Dynasty Series 12: Blood Lines
by ss9
Summary: Continuation from Series 11: Full Circle. Can Blake win Alexis back or will Dex Dexter and a certain South American Tycoon out for revenge get in his way? Dynasty Series Starring John Forsythe as Blake Carrington and Joan Collins as Alexis Colby.
1. Episode 1: Takeover

Series 12: Blood Lines

Episode 1: Takeover

Part 1:

When Blake Carrington opened his eyes early on an unusually dull Thursday morning for mid July, the sound of heavy rain splattering against the windowpanes, any onlooker would have been surprised by the broad smile that stretched across the Carrington Patriarch's face and lit up those glittering dark eyes. After all Blake Carrington was a man on the brink of loosing everything, or at least that was what the financial papers had printed only that very morning.

He had been betrayed by one of the few people he would never have thought would ever, could ever, double cross him. His beloved Denver Carrington was on the brink of being forcibly taken over by a merciless, faceless corporation, assisted by one of the scum of society, a man with no friends and even fewer scruples. Frank Dobson seemed determined to see Blake destroyed and took great personal pleasure in being the one to do it.

Yet all these troubles weren't enough to damper Blake's buoyant mood, nothing could, not after last night.

Which was hardly surprising considering that fact that Blake had spent a good portion of it wrapt in the arms of the woman he loved. The woman that had responded to his kisses, who held him just as tightly as he had clung to her and the very woman he had made finally made love to after months of separation. A separation that was wholly attributable to Blake's own stupidity and before the reconciliation in Alexis's office, a separation that Blake had almost convinced himself was permanent, that it was too late and he had lost Alexis forever.

Then in his desperation he had turned to Alexis for help with Dobson, had swallowed his famous Carrington pride and offered her Denver Carrington on a platter; the last resort to keeping his life's work out of Dobson's greedy little hands. He had expected Alexis to make him grovel and beg for her help, and Blake was prepared to do whatever it took to convince her to help him. But Alexis hadn't humiliated him, she had comforted him and they talked and somehow he ended up kissing her. Desperate kisses that had turned into much more and before Blake could even believe it himself they were making love as if they had never been apart.

It had turned out to be one of the most intimate and intoxicating experiences of his life. Sighing Blake refused to dwell on all the troubles today would bring him; instead he lingered on the precious memories of the night before.

Alexis lying soft and sated in his arms, her gentle breath teasing his neck as she dozed contentedly whilst Blake's wandering fingertips stroked and explored the slope of her bare back. This had to be a dream, a wonderful, heartbreaking dream. Pressing kisses to her brow, neck, shoulder, collarbone, in fact every spare bare inch of skin he could find.

_Then her lips, those damn fine tempting lips, Blake covered those too, relishing the way Alexis moaned into his open mouth as his tongue teased hers and his hands reached down to stroke between them, once more stoking the fire that had cooled to burning embers._

"_Blake it's late…"Alexis had feebly protested when Blake pulled her to him and rolled her slender body back underneath his own. "Fallon will be wondering where I am…"_

"_It is still early, why is that a Lark I hear?"_

"_No love it is the Nightingale." Alexis quoted back unable to resist a snigger at his mangling of Shakespeare to further his own aims. "It would have to be very very late to be a Lark Blake and I would rather limit any more illusions to Romeo and Juliet, as I recall things ended rather badly for them."_

"_Then perhaps you should stop me from speaking at all." Blake teased and this time when he kissed her Alexis didn't even try to stop him, melting into him as he pulled her close, allowing him to make love to her again._

_Then as they lay still, panting in the quiet office, their cries of pleasure now fallen silent Blake had known it was time to address the elephant in the room. After all Alexis knew how he felt, he had told her often enough, had cursed himself for his foolish actions, had begged forgiveness for things he wished he could take back. It was time now to talk about them, about Dexter as damn awkward as that would be, about how they felt and if…no not if but how they could move forward from here together. Yet there was one thing Blake needed to say, needed to say and have her hear it and believe it._

"_I love you Alexis." Blake whispered reverently watching the silent woman in his arms for any reaction no matter how minute. So when Alexis lifted her head and gazed into his eyes her emeralds troubled and conflicted Blake knew it was going to be more complicated than he had first hoped? _

"_Blake I…"_

_The sharp ring of the telephone cut Alexis off before she could answer and ignoring Blake's protest Alexis slipped from his arms gathering her clothing as she crossed the room to answer it._

"_Yes?...Oh sorry Mark…Yes I had forgotten the time." Alexis spoke into the receiver juggling the phone between her chin and shoulder as she hurriedly tried to dress herself a fact made decidedly more difficult by Blake as he deliberately sabotaged her efforts. A kiss on her bare shoulder, his fingers running down the curve of her spine before sliding inside a half fastened blouse to cup and fondle her breast, pinching a nipple and causing Alexis to start and squeak slightly._

"_No nothing is wrong just stubbed my toe." Alexis replied turning to shoot Blake a death glare over her shoulder. "Yes tell Eric I will be down in a few moments." She added barely putting down the receiver before Blake was pulling her too him and covering her lips in a blinding kiss._

"_Blake no…" Alexis gasped pulling her lips away as she struggled to catch her breathe. "I need to be going. It is late and I need to head home."_

"_An excellent idea." Blake muttered leaning forward to place a kiss above her pulse point, relishing the way Alexis's heartbeat seemed to jump at the contact. "My place or yours? I really don't think my poor back could cope with spending the night on that couch."_

"_Blake I don't think…"_

"_Yours would be best I think." Blake added with a slightly predatory smile. "Besides you haven't yet given me a tour of Colby Acres and I think you should remedy that, the personal tour…starting with your bedroom; of course if we start there I doubt I will get to see anything else." He added kissing her neck as Alexis fumbled with the remaining buttons of her blouse._

"_Blake I think it is for the best it I go home alone."_

"_But…"_

"_Please let me finish this time." Alexis added cutting Blake off her sharp tone softening slightly at the look of confusion in Blake's eyes. "I am just so confused right now, so much has changed in the last twenty-four hours and I need to time to think things through and accept it on my own terms. Besides I do need to get up early and sort out everything so we will be able to complete on our deal in time; I will need my rest tonight."_

_Sighing Blake had to admit that in that Alexis had a point, and perhaps it would be best if he gave her a little space, even though his entire being screamed at him not to let her out of his arms. "I do hate it when you are right."_

"_Well it does happen occasionally Mr Carrington." Alexis retorted playfully._

"_And you will at least celebrate with me tomorrow…Providing everything goes to plan I mean." Blake added seeing Alexis open her mouth as if to protest. "Please Alexis, we can go somewhere quiet and talk, or not talk at all if you prefer, I just want to be close to you."_

_If Alexis's smile was slightly too tight and perhaps a little forced Blake chose to overlook it considering the fact that she nodded. "Providing nothing else comes up…I don't see why not."_

"_Thank you." Blake muttered leaning forward and kissing her gently. "Now milady your chariot awaits, never be said Blake Carrington would deliberately keep a lady from her beauty sleep."_

Perhaps it was a touch arrogant but Blake was confident that eventually Alexis would come to the same conclusion that he had himself reached. Despite everything that life threw at them the two of them were always drawn back to the other, they seemed to be meant for each other and no one else. Alexis had said as much to him in the past and now Blake couldn't help but see the wisdom in her words that years ago he had dismiss far too hastily. How many years could they have salvaged if only he had listened to her all years ago when she had first returned to Denver?

Of course he wouldn't have Krystina and so it wasn't as though he would willingly go back and change the past even if he could, but that didn't mean he couldn't change the future.

So it was with barely contained excitement that Blake threw back the covers and headed into the bathroom. He showered and shave with great care, tutting over the slightly darker circles under his eyes that made him look older than normal, yet the excitement of knowing he would see Alexis today put a twinkle in his dark eyes that managed to balance them out. He dressed with particular care, selecting a tailored dark blue pinstripe suit, a crisp white shirt and a lighter blue tie, which he fashioned in the oxford style about his throat.

Catching his reflection in the long mirror before he left the bedroom Blake had to admit he looked near his best and so it was with a light heart and whistle that he headed down to breakfast. Nodding politely and offering cheerful greetings to the staff members he passed who nodded back and whose eyes followed him in surprise.

It was still early when Blake arrived in the dining room yet it was surprisingly full and all eyes turned to view the unusually chipper Carrington patriarch as he arrived, whistling a merry tune.

"Good Morning all." Blake greeted his family brightly oblivious to the questioning glances that passed between Jeff and Krystle or the concerned frown that marred Steven's brow.

Picking up the paper Blake's jovial mood didn't even slip when he caught sight of the headline. 'Denver Carrington in grip of hostile takeover.' Shows what Gordon Wales thinks he knows, Blake mentally commented a smirk tugging on his lips.

"Blake is everything alright?" Jeff couldn't help but ask. Of all the reactions from his father-in-law after the revelations of the last few days, a happy cheerful smile was certainly not one of them; unless of course Blake knew something that the rest of them didn't or the strain had finally sent him round the bend?

"Everything is fine Jeff, just fine." Blake added pleasantly folding the paper back up and buttering two pieces of toast before once more glancing at his watch. If he left a little earlier than normal then he might just be able to slip in a little errand… "If you'll excuse me I really need to be heading off to the office."

"Oh if you wait for me to get my briefcase I can come with you…" Jeff began glancing at Steven who also went to rise from his seat.

"Oh no you two enjoy your breakfast, I have to run a few errands on the way in." Blake hedged smiling tightly as he caught Steven's eye.

In all that had happened in the last twenty-four hours Blake still hadn't had time to truly process his son's betrayal. On one hand he could understand how Steven had felt compelled to punish him for hurting Alexis and yet on the other hand surely as his father he deserved a certain amount of loyalty? To hurt him personally was one thing, but to use Denver Carrington hurt more than Blake, it hurt the entire family, and all the families of the people Blake employed. That betrayal was the one that was going to be difficult to get over; Blake had always assumed his son was a far better man than that.

Feeling a sharp tug on his sleeve Blake glanced down to his right where a silent Krystina was staring up at him quizzingly. On seeing his little angel Blake's mood lightened once again and he bent down placing a kiss on her forehead. "Have a wonderful day princess, and wish Daddy luck for today."

Then picking up his paper and taking a bite of his toast before setting it back down, his stomach far too excited for him to eat any more; Blake accepted his briefcase from Gerard and left his family to finish their breakfast without him, his cheerful whistling echoing down the corridor.

"Is Mr Dexter available?…No…Yes can you please tell him Alexis Colby called, he can reach me at home until 8.30 am, after that Colby Co for most of the morning…Yes just that if he needs to talk to someone, if he needs me to call me back no matter what the hour." The Dexter housekeeper reassured Alexis yet again that she would indeed pass on her message just as soon as Mr Dexter returned from the hospital.

Alexis reluctantly sat down her phone and stared guiltily at the other side of her large bed. At the space normally occupied by Dex and whose only current inhabitant was a rather too happy Mr Kensington who was thrilled to be allowed into a room he was normally barred from.

"What am I going to do huh?" Alexis asked the dog, who simply wagged his tail and crawled forward to lick Alexis's outstretched hand. "Oh you are no help." Alexis muttered yet she was glad the dog was there and that she wasn't completely alone with her turmoil.

Dear god what was wrong with her?

Dex had barely left Denver and she fallen back into Blake's arms. If Dex ever found out he would never forgive her. True he had been the one to walk out on her but Dex had walked out in the past when he was angry and it hadn't, it didn't mean they were over. He just had so much to deal with right now that he couldn't understand why Alexis couldn't drop everything just to run off to Wyoming on a whim…

Except that his dying father was hardly a whim and Alexis couldn't contain the stirrings of guilt. Couldn't she have gone with him as he asked? True he had wanted her to leave everything else she loved for him, but surely that had just been the fear and grief talking? Dex was hardly happy in Wyoming himself, surely he would have wanted to return to Denver eventually?

It was just so confusing, her thoughts and feelings bubbling up all over the place. Last night with Blake had been wonderful and terrible at the same time. Part of her was set free in his arms, his kiss and touch had healed a gaping wound that Alexis had kept hidden from everyone as best she could.

His rejection had shattered her into so many pieces, her heart had taken a beating Alexis hadn't been sure she could recover from but her pride had been irrevocably dented. Tossed aside again for that dumb blonde, Alexis had been humiliated. Sex with Blake had soothed that perpetual ache. He did still want her, no matter what he had once claimed, and the fact that Blake now seemed determined to pursue her no matter what the cost was more than a little flattering for her wounded ego.

Yet there was more to a relationship than sex, or even love and Alexis knew she still loved Blake, that wasn't the question and it wasn't the issue not really…

How could she ever trust a man who had shredded her so brutally, not once but twice?

Right now Alexis wasn't certain she ever could and that was the crux of the matter.

There was Dex and there was Blake and she loved them both, wanted them both but she couldn't have both. She was going to have to choose. Eventually Blake would lose his patience with her putting him off, he would keep telling her that he loved her and would expect her to reply. Yet could she give up Dex and Jack for Blake, risk everything again for Blake Carrington a man who had proven time and time again that when push came to shove he would put himself before them?

Or could she find it within herself to pay the price that Dex demanded?

Could she leave behind the life she had built here for a chance at a brighter future with him and Jack, put Blake Carrington truly behind her for once?

Shaking her head Alexis caught the illuminated display of her bedside clock, gasping when it already showed 8.15am. She had been daydreaming for over half an hour and today she couldn't be late, there was simply too much to do. Darting from her bed as Mr Kensington yapped excitedly at her heels as she dashed about the bedroom Alexis resolved to put her personal dilemmas to one side for now, to not think of Blake or Dex for the rest of the morning. After all Denver Carrington was not going to pay for itself.

Part 2:

"Good Morning Mr Carrington." Mr Jergen's greeting was polite but Blake could make out the hint of surprise in the florist's voice as he pulled up the shutters on his shop only to see a familiar face waiting for him to open.

"And how can Jergen's be of assistance today, some Freesia's perhaps?" The Florist guessed, after all the gossip grapevine did still place the Carrington Tycoon with the lovely Krystle Carrington. Although of course if Mr Jergen had a choice in the matter he would have preferred Mrs Colby; at least from a business perspective, after all two-dozen lavender roses brought him a tidier profit.

Coughing Blake cleared his throat awkwardly and for a moment he found himself avoiding the elderly florist's eye. Up until this moment Blake had been so wrapped in the euphoria of the night before that other people's reactions had not even entered his thoughts, yet he could only begin to imagine the amusement people would find at his expense. Would people speculate that Blake Carrington was loosing his marbles? Or perhaps that is was simply unable to make a decision, first Alexis then Krystle then back to Alexis again... "I was thinking more along the lines of roses…"

"Oh of course…Red, pink, yellow or white?"

Swallowing down his embarrassment and ignoring the awkward blush that he was undoubtedly sporting Blake replied, "No lavender if possible."

For a moment old Mr Jergen stared at Carrington in amazement his mind still quick enough despite his senior years to calculate just how much this little titbit of gossip would be worth to certain tabloids. Yet he recovered enough to answer the question, after all as a florist he was privy to many many secret liaisons that successful businessmen would prefer to keep hidden. It wasn't like he had ever let on about that mistress the late Cecil Colby had kept down by the park, or the dozen red roses that were Mr Colby's standard weekly order.

"I don't have any personally in stock but I do know a specialist in the trade who might be able to help us…Just let me make a few calls, two dozen?"

"Three and a little extra for your trouble." Blake insisted laying two hundred dollar bills down on the counter before eyeing the old florist and laying another two down. "And a little something for your continued discretion."

"Ahhh of course, I take it these are not to be delivered to the Mansion?" Jergens asked innocently as he pocketed three of the four crisp bills, only one would ever appear in the till and in his records; an old man had to feather his retirement fund somehow. "Colby Acres perhaps?"

"Colby Co if you can manage it this morning." Blake muttered his hands reached for a blank card, which he filled out with a flourish and slipped inside a little white envelope sealing it before handing it over to the florist. "As always your speedy service and discretion are appreciated."

Accepting the card Jergen warred with the impulse to open it the moment Carrington left and confirm that his initial suspicions were in fact correct but then he reminded himself that if he played his cards right there could be far bigger things on the horizon then a miserly few hundred from a gossip columnist.

Alexis Colby spent hundreds of dollars a week on flowers, just to adorn her house and office. Mr Jergen could only salivate at the thought of just how much money a lady like that would spend on flowers for her own wedding. So if he could help facilitate a little reconciliation between two of the leading business tycoons so much the better for them, and more importantly so much the better for his bank balance.

"I'm sorry the number you have dialled is not available at the moment please try again later."

Cursing his own bad luck Dex slammed the receiver back into the cradle cursing louder still when the damn hospital payphone decided to eat the change he had steadfastly fed into, not caring that the little old lady waiting for the phone behind him tutted at his coarse language.

He had only intended to phone the homestead to check on his son when the housekeeper had informed him that he had several messages from a Mrs Alexis Colby all asking him to ring her. At first Dex had rejected the idea, his pride still stung from Alexis's refusal to accompany him, and even the thought of her made his broken heart ache. Why should he phone her now, hadn't she already made her feelings clear? Alexis clearly didn't love him enough to come here with him when he needed her…

Yet another part of him was relieved that she had called; that she had called meant Alexis was at least thinking about him, perhaps worried that he was all right. Part of him wanted her to worry, to suffer because he was ignoring her, just as much as he was suffering right now without her here. The other part of him just wanted to hear her voice, to swallow his pride and take comfort from whatever part of her he could reach even if it was only down the phone.

His father was dying.

After all the near misses over the years Dex had almost come to believe that Sam Dexter was as close to immortal as any man could get. Yet as he watched the man that was lying in that hospital bed, every breath seemingly a struggle, Dex knew that this time there would be no miraculous recovery.

His father was really dying and honestly Dex didn't know how he felt about it.

Part of him was numb, reacting on instinct ever since he had driven through the night to get here arriving a little after dawn to hand his sleeping son off to their startled housekeeper who he had gotten out of bed with his frantic knocking. Dex had headed straight to the hospital and had been here ever since, surviving on no sleep and hospital coffee to keep him going.

The atmosphere in his father's room was damn near oppressive, the darkened room, the smell of urine and other bodily fluids as his father' body began to shut down was hard enough. The interminable waiting with only his fuming sister for company made it worse.

Marin hadn't accepted his apologies and explanations instead she had turned her back on him, focusing her attention on her father, which was hardly surprising since they had hardly gotten along even when younger. Dex supposed almost a ten-year age gap would do that to siblings. Perhaps things would have been different in his family if he had more siblings, if his poor mother hadn't miscarried three children after him before finally presenting his father with a daughter shortly before passing away herself.

Marin had always been Daddy's little girl, had been the centre of his world and as such had gotten away with murder whilst Dex had to work for every ounce of praise. If it hadn't have been for his grandfather stepping in during his teenage years Dex could only imagine the wrong turns his life could have taken.

Yet stuck in that room with his angry sister and a dying old man who was already past understanding Dex had needed Alexis. Needed her love and reassurance, needed her arms around him, some form of comfort that he had only ever found in her.

So he had called Colby Co; first Alexis's private line which had proven to be engaged and then desperate to speak to her now that he had made up his mind Dex had even tried her secretary, which was why the damn out of order message made no sense…

"Young Man if you are quite finished abusing the facilities…" The little old lady snapped behind him her deep-set hazel eyes squinting maliciously at him.

"In a minute." Dex retorted perhaps more sharply than he normally would but the lack of sleep and worry for his father combined with the conflicted emotions over Alexis made him rather testy.

Digging his hands into the pockets of his jeans Dex cursed when his search came up bare, he had used all of his change. Turning to sheepishly face the scowling woman behind him Dex gathered his courage. "Look I'm sorry I shouldn't have snapped…I don't suppose you have any change I can borrow I promise to pay you back…"

"Oh a likely story!" The old woman snapped smacking his leg with her walking stick as she showed surprising strength in pushing Dex to one side. "Now if you don't mind those of us who can afford it would like to use the telephone."

"Ma'am please…"

"DEX!" Hearing his name shouted Dex turned in the direction of the voice his bad mood only worsening as his sister Marin bore down on him, her normally attractive face screwed up in anger. "What the hell are you doing out here, the doctors want to talk to us so move it."

"Marin I'm coming I just needed to make some calls first. Look can you stop yelling long enough to lend me some change?" Dex answered trying to keep his tone even as he met his younger sister's impatient gaze.

"That depends on who you are calling, if it is that woman…" Marin added flicking her light brown hair over her shoulder, her voice curdling in disgust at the mere illusion of Alexis.

"She has a name." Dex retorted hotly. "And I happen to love her, it is my life…"

"Yes I know I have heard this argument before remember." Marin snapped back as she rolled her own dark eyes, one of their only shared features from their mother. "How many times have I heard it, honestly Dex I am quite bored of it by now but if you think I am going to lend you money to waste on talking to your whore whilst our father is dying…"

"She is not a whore." Dex hissed his dark eyes narrowing. "You shouldn't talk about things you don't understand."

"Oh I understand only to well. I've had to sit there bored out of my mind whilst you and Dad argued about it." Marin sneered glancing at her watch as if already bored. "The answer is no Dex, now we have somewhere else to be, unless of course you would rather stand here and beg for change off of strangers to talk to that woman, rather than be by your dying father's bedside?" Marin added pointedly before turning on her heel and striding off down the corridor.

With one longing look at the telephone Dex could only follow her, after all Alexis would still be there later and there was a good chance Sam Dexter would not; it wasn't like there really was any choice.

"No Tom that simply isn't good enough I need you to liquidate it all… yes you heard me the whole portfolio…Tomorrow isn't good enough, look I don't care do it now! Don't bother ringing back until it is done, done as in yesterday!" Alexis snapped setting the phone down with a little more force than really was necessary. Already her morning had been challenging enough.

Why today of all days the damn electricity company had decided to start shopping up the road in the business district. The city streets leading to Colby Co and the traffic backlog had caused her to be late for work, something which this morning was inexcusable.

However despite her personal frustration Alexis did have to admit it gave her the perfect cover for her little act of sabotage.

Knowing Frank Dobson now for the kind of scum that he really was Alexis could only imagine he had little spies dotted throughout her company; Alexis knew she did herself, it was the only way to keep on top of who was really up to what in such a large organisation. Alexis couldn't risk the knowledge of what she was really up to leaking out before she was ready to announce it. Her cold little dip into the world of hostile takeovers with Dirk Maurier and Trueville Industries had at least taught her that lesson in a way she was unlikely ever to forget; loosing several million on the stock market had the habit of doing that.

So in any other circumstances having the Colby Co switchboard mysteriously go down would have been a disaster not to mention highly suspicious, yet with the chaos outside Alexis could smugly blame it on the electricity company. The potential loss in business was offset by having all calls forwarded to the New York office and being able to send non-essential staff home, on half pay, so overall Colby Co was hardly worse off in the long run.

The fact was that there was no real problem with the phones; well none that her in house maintenance man couldn't fix in a jiffy and Alexis had him under strict surveillance until this was a done deal. There was only one working line in the whole building and that was the Alexis's private line. Of course that had the draw back that only Alexis could handle all the necessary transactions personally which could only explain her rising stress levels considering some of in the incompetents she had already spoken to; this was what she paid for lackeys for in the first place!

Already she had smoked five cigarettes and it wasn't even eleven and the longer she spent on the telephone yelling at idiots the more tempting the decanter of whiskey was becoming and she still was only half way through her lists of tasks. Tapping her fingernails on her desktop Alexis tore her gaze away from the alcohol surprised when her office door opened and an apologetic Mark stuck his head through.

"Mrs Colby…"

"Mark I told you…"

"Mother!" Adam exclaimed pushing past an irritated Mark who tried to bodily block the door from an impatient Adam Carrington. "For god sakes Mark let me through I am an executive at this company not a door to door salesman!"

"Adam I am very busy, I have lots of paperwork to catch up…"

"Mother no one is busy." Adam snapped his blue eyes narrowing on Alexis. "What with this damn phone business, I've half a mind to call it a day and take some reports home to read up on?"

"Why don't you just take the day off Adam, so many other's are doing so, why not take Dana out for lunch, perhaps go somewhere special for the afternoon?" Alexis suggested walking from behind her desk to take her son's arm and usher him back towards the door. "I think it would do you good."

"Well what about you…" Adam began his handsome face creased in concern, concern that quickly morphed in confusion and then suspicion as on Alexis's mahogany desk her phone began to ring. "Mother your phone…Are they fixed?"

"Ummm they must be." Alexis replied smiling sweetly as she rushed over to pick it up. "Oh…Tom yes well that is good to know…Yes thank you for telling me." Alexis muttered setting the phone back on the pedestal. "It seems some of the phones are working, they are having to reboot the whole system, it could take hours…Darling you really are better off heading home why don't you…"

"You're lying." Adam stated flatly as he crossed the room to lean on his mother's desk. "Why are you lying to me of all people, I'm a senior executive in this company if something is going on then I ought to know about it!"

"I am afraid it is need to know only Adam."

"I'm your son!" Adam retorted sharply his handsome face contorted painfully as his mother's distrust cut him deep. "You should trust me above anyone else."

"Trust you." Alexis snorted sarcastically unable to stop herself, the resentment she had haphazardly buried after her confrontation with Frank spilling out of her now. "After what you did, selling me out to the highest bidder, spilling my secrets to scum like Dobson and for what Adam? Tell me I am so curious what did he offer you to make you give up that secret, money, power? Well I hope it was worth it Adam?"

Stunned by Alexis's attack Adam could only shake his head, inwardly cursing Dobson with every breath, the bastard had ratted him out and for what to score points? "Mother it wasn't like…"

"Don't try and justify it, not to me." Alexis snapped unwilling to hear excuses not when she had far more important things to concentrate on.

"Now you please just go, nothing you could say could explain this betrayal not after everything I have done for you; I have forgiven you every indiscretion against me Adam but I don't know if I can forgive this. But you can start trying to earn back my trust my honouring my wishes. Go home, take the day off, if anyone asks you anything then you know nothing! Because if I find out you have talked to anyone about this then I mean it Adam this time we will really be through!" Alexis added unable to contain the very real anger in her voice and Adam drew back as if slapped, edging towards the door reaching for it as it was opened from the other side and once more an apologetic Mark stood in the doorway.

Yet this time his arms were not trying to block the doorway but full of a beautiful flower arrangement, with somewhat distinctive looking roses.

"They were just delivered." Mark added glancing between a flushed Alexis and an ashen-faced Adam whose quick eyes scanned the flowers, and flickered towards the card before turning back to his mother who had suddenly gone rather pink on seeing them.

"It seems I am not the only who has some explaining to do."

Part 3:

It was wet.

No scratch that it was raining cats and dogs out there, which for mid July was highly unusually and so Jackson gratefully dumped his wet weather gear the moment he stepped back inside the ranch house. The damn rain had even penetrated through and his clothing stuck uncomfortably to his body as he stalked towards his bedroom to change, not caring that he was slowly leaving puddles of water along Alexis's floor after all what else did she pay all these damn staff for if not to clear up after her houseguests?

Although…. Jackson paused winking at one of the new prettier housemaids who blushed furiously as he sauntered towards her….Perhaps certain members could be persuaded to do a little extra for their pay packet?

"I don't think we've met Miss…"

"Susan Mr Hobbs."

"Sweet Sue, do you mind if I call you Sue?" Jackson teased reaching over and catching the housemaid's hand bringing it swiftly to his lips. "Now what is a lovely looking young lady like yourself doing here?"

"Not doing the work I assigned her apparently." A curt voice added and Jackson was unable to quell a grimace as Patrick the butler suddenly appeared; now that was one staff member who already did more than enough for his salary.

"Now Mr Hobbs are these your things?" Patrick added holding out Jackson's wet and muddy Jacket and riding boots that Jackson had abandoned by the back door. "I found them blocking the rear entrance."

"Well unless there is another stud walking about the place Pat my man, then yes they are mine, now be an old sport and have them cleaned up for me would you?" Jackson retorted slapping the English butler hard on the shoulder, ducking past before the butler could protest and escaping down the hall towards the sanctuary of his bedroom.

Pushing open his bedroom door Jackson was already tugging his wet shirt off over his head as his free hand unfastened his jeans and dropped them to the floor. Sighing as he kicked the wet clothing aside Jackson relaxed as the warm air hit his naked skin.

"Tell me Jackson do you often just walk rooms and drop your clothes?"

"Depends whether there is a beautiful woman waiting for me?" Jackson retorted smoothly doing his best to cover the momentary jolt of adrenaline that coursed through his frame and the years of training that a millisecond before he recognised the speaker had him ready to tuck and roll for cover.

He was getting sloppy.

His old commander would have him down on the floor doing a hundred press-ups whilst he lectured him solidly on how inattention to your surroundings could get your sorry arse loaded full of bullets.

When had he gotten so relaxed in this house that he didn't even scope a room before entering it, even his own? Was he really so out of practice that he didn't even notice when there someone else in the room?

A very naked someone?

Quirking an eyebrow as a pleasantly surprised smile lit his face Jackson strode towards the bed where Fallon Carrington Colby was stretched out across his comforter, naked as the day she was born save for the cowboy hat that was perched atop her auburn curls.

"It seems I am not the only who has this problem Fallon, do you think we should form a support group?"

"Oh I think a grouping of some sort may be in order." Fallon teased tilting her hat back so she could catch Jackson's gaze, unable to keep the warmth from spreading down her porcelain skin as Jackson's hot gaze took in every exposed inch of her.

"And here I thought you were ignoring me." Jackson pouted. "After that little misunderstanding with Colby…"

"Little misunderstanding, he practically caught us red-handed." Fallon scoffed. "Look I know I took it out on you unfairly, Jeff and I…Look I don't want to get into that right now, that is not why I am here."

"So why are you here Fallon?" Jackson teased his eyes narrowing playfully as Fallon squirmed uncomfortably. "To talk about the weather, it's not rained this much in July…"

"You know very well why I am here Jackson." Fallon retorted hotly refusing to join this maddening man in his little games, he was not going to make her beg for it again. She was a Carrington born, they didn't beg for anything. "The last few days have been rather stressful so I thought why not take the morning off and…"

"De-stress?" Jackson teased as he leant forward running his rough fingertips along Fallon's arm, watching her flesh broke out in goosebumps at even that innocent little touch and Fallon closed her eyes sighing in contentment as his caress grew bolder.

"Well I am a busy man Fallon; I suppose I might be able to fit you into my schedule if you ask me nicely." Jackson added smugly withdrawing his teasing touch and crossing his arms as he leant back against the wall watching closely as Fallon's eyes opened and flashed with temper.

"How nicely?" Fallon teased the angry fire in her blue eyes turning mischievous as she realised two could play this game and that she might have a way of making Jackson Hobbs beg before she was through.

"Really really nicely." Jackson added his pulse suddenly racing as Fallon returned his smirk before biting her bottom lip temptingly.

"Oh I think I might have just the thing for you Mr Hobbs if your man enough to stand it?"

"Lady I can handle whatever you throw at me." Jackson responded confidently yet even he felt his confidence ebb slightly as Fallon's quick little hand reached out and caught a part of him that was paying close attention to the developing situation, her grip tighter than he expected.

Smirking as Jackson couldn't suppress a start of surprise Fallon enjoyed having the upper hand, after all she had a lesson to teach and it was nice for once to have a willing and able student. "Well we'll have to see about that now won't we?"

She wasn't looking at them.

It was just Mark had put them on the cabinet that happened to sit directly opposite her desk and whilst she was waiting for people to call her back there was very little that Alexis could do except think and stare into space.

And if her gaze happened to end up resting on those roses then it was just coincidence and nothing more.

It wasn't as though she had even read the card. Not that she needed to. One glance at the large arrangement of distinct lavender roses told her everything she needed about who had sent them and why. Those particular roses had always been special for the two of them ever since that first night when he had brought her flowers stolen from his mother's prize-winning bushes.

Adam had known something the moment his eyes landed on the delivery. Yet if Alexis had been unwilling to confide in her son about the deal to snatch Denver Carrington from Dobson's grubby little hands then admitting to their eldest son that his parents 'relationship' had developed another layer of complexity, well that was truly unthinkable.

Tearing her eyes away Alexis tried to focus on the pad in front of her, on the total funds raised that presently were still a good few million short of the sum she needed. Yet it wasn't so easy to ignore her feelings at it was Blake's flowers.

It was almost as though in the last forty-eight she had been on an emotional rollercoaster and now the ride had momentarily come to a halt she was still buzzing from the overload. First the painful exchange with Dex, having to bring up all the terrible memories of that night with Blake in her office when he seemed to loose his mind. Then suffering through loosing both Dex and Jack only to come full circle and end last night in Blake's arms.

Was it any wonder that her poor nerves were almost numb from the shock of it all and only now she was alone could Alexis even begin to process it all?

In some ways Alexis almost wished that the last two days had never happened, that she could just go home to Dex and Jack and her family, safe in the knowledge that she was loved and could love back with any complications; well if she ignored Blake's declaration completely. Yet the last night with Blake had healed some deep-set wounds that Alexis had never thought could be healed. That she loved Blake Alexis had come to terms with years ago, he was part of her that no matter what she did or whom else she loved would always be there but was that really enough?

Alexis was so engrossed in her dilema that she didn't hear the door to her office open and it wasn't until an apologetic Mark blurted out. "I tried to tell her you were busy Mrs Colby but she insisted it was urgent and…"

"I wouldn't take no for an answer. Good afternoon Alexis." A cool clipped voice announced calmly and for a moment Alexis could only blink at her in surprise, the other side of their love-triangle or was it love-diamond now?

"Krystle, what can I do for you? I am very busy so if this is a social call…"

"I came to ask for your help Alexis." Krystle cut in, she had always been a woman who had not minced her words or played games. Krystle's parents had instilled in her from a young age the importance of being clear and honest when she spoke, to temper her words with kindest and consideration but never to try and hide her motives; it showed a lack of respect for the people you interacted with.

"My Help?" Alexis spluttered. Of all the things in the world she was expecting, Krystle to demand she leave Blake alone, or Krystina or hell even Denver would have been more likely. "Why on earth would you need my help?"

"With Krystina…I realise now that I was wrong to accuse you of kidnapping her back at the hospital and I apologise. I also realise that as much as it pains me to admit it that you were there for Krystina when I couldn't be and that she came to care for and respect you." Krystle added forcing herself to meet Alexis's gaze.

"As much as the two of us have always disliked each other I didn't have the right to accuse you of being a bad mother. You love your children and would do anything for them and… the older Krystina becomes the more I begin to realise that sometimes as a mother you can fail your children not because you don't care enough but sometimes because you care so deeply that it becomes difficult to see past your maternal need to protect them from any sign of danger."

"Thank you." Alexis muttered his emerald eyes narrowing when Krystle fidgeted awkwardly. "I don't imagine that was easy for you to say and I doubt you want to be here so lets cut to the chase, what would you like my help with?"

Taking a deep sigh Krystle girded herself to answer, if apologising to Alexis was hard then admitting this was a true test of her resolve. "Krystina won't talk to me, not about running away, not at all she is refusing to talk to anyone."

"And you would like me to try?"

"I would consider it a personal favour if you would yes." Krystle replied through gritted teeth. "She seemed to be more like herself after she came back from LB's party and I thought if she spent some time at Colby Acres with the other children it would give you a chance to talk to her, to get her to confide in you if possible about what is troubling her."

"And if she tells me something you won't want to hear?" Alexis retorted. "I mean it is hardly my fault if she is unhappy because of your and Blake's fighting…"

"Whatever the reason." Krystle cut in. "I just want her to talk to someone…"

"Even someone like me." Alexis finished for her lifting her eyes to meet Krystle's level gaze. "Alright I'll help, I am sure you would be more comfortable making the arrangements with Fallon."

Sighing in relief Krystle nodded, the heavy burden she had been carrying since that night in the hospital when her own child turned away from her finally lightening slightly. "Thank you."

"Oh don't thank me yet I haven't accomplished anything. Now if you don't mind, I do have a company to run…"

Taking the less than subtle hint to get the hell out now that the pleasantries were over Krystle turned back to the door yet not before the startlingly beautiful floral display caught her eyes and she paused to admire the unusual roses.

Following Krystle's gaze Alexis froze in her seat. Surely Krystle couldn't know what or more to the point who those flowers came from. The only people who might know were her children and unless they had been talking… and Alexis wasn't ready for that knowledge to become public, not yet, not until she had at least made up her own mind.

"They're lovely I've never seen roses that shade before." Krystle muttered glancing back over her shoulder at Alexis, surprised that the dark haired woman seemed almost struck mute.

"They're a specialist breed." Alexis finally muttered tearing her gaze away as she shuffled the papers on her desk. "Now if you don't mind, I have better things to be doing with my time than educating you about botany Krystle!"

Feeling her hackles rise Krystle realised it was better to leave before their surprisingly neutral discussion descended into their unusual mud slinging. Yet as her hand closed in the door handle she couldn't help but remember Blake's unusually chipper mood that morning and despite her better judgement that screamed at her to open the door and keep on walking, Krystle couldn't help the question that slipped from her lips.

"Alexis I know that is really none of my business, not anymore in any case, but I need to know…Do you still feel the same way you said you did about Blake all those months ago, that you would never take him back because you could never trust him again?"

Slapping her papers down on her desktop Alexis felt her patience come quickly to an end. "Look Krystle you may have nothing better to do with you time than swan about Denver making dramatic entrances and poking your nose into other people's lives but I do. However if it will get you to leave, I am with Dex now and things are just as over between Blake and I now as they were back then. Happy? Now will you please go?"

Frowning Krystle shook her head unable to unpick the truth from among the complicated construct of Alexis's performance. "I never know when you are telling the truth or lying Alexis you are too good an actress."

"Well frankly I don't give a damn, I know that I am telling the truth." Alexis snapped back lifting her gaze to glare at the blonde bimbo who had the nerve to come into her inner sanctum and try and pick apart her private life. "But you were right on one thing it isn't your business."

"Do you know the truth Alexis, with all the lies you weave can you really keep track? I know I would get lost trying to follow all the twists in your spider web but somehow this time I doubt I am only the one."

Stunned by the ex-stenographer's insight into her current turmoil Alexis could only watch as Krystle opened the door before she recovered her composure enough to bluff a response. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Yet Krystle didn't justify her question with a reply and they both knew one really wasn't necessary and despite their little exchange Alexis was really no closer to a decision.

Slumping into her chair Alexis's fingers reached for another cigarette, quickly lighting is and inhaling a lungful of soothing smoke her eyes automatically drifting to settle on the flowers opposite. Sooner rather than later she would need to sort this mess out but for right now she didn't have the time or the clarity of thought to think clearly. But until then she wasn't going to stare at those damn roses until they drove her mad.

Crossing the room Alexis gather the display in her arms storming across to the door, which she managed to open somehow, marching over to a stunned Mark's desk and dumping the flowers on top of it.

"Just put them somewhere…anywhere else…I can't concentrate with the damn things in the room." Alexis spat before turning on her heel and retreating back to her office, trying to convince herself with every step that she wasn't acting like a coward, not really.

After all it was only cowardice if you really weren't at risk of being hurt, just like it wasn't paranoia if they are really out to get you…And given her track record Alexis knew damn well she was going to end up getting hurt again, it was really only a question of when and how badly.

Part 4:

Sighing as he picked up the last box Steven moved over to the sideboard and retrieved the photographs of his family. Pictures of Danny at assorted ages made their way into his box until Steven's hand landed on the last picture, one that had been hidden away at the back and for a moment Steven had to blink in surprise before he remembered when he had gotten it.

It had been a present from his mother, a new years gift.

Each of his siblings had been given one, and Steven's eyes lingered on the group shot of his entire family that had been taken at Christmas. Was this the last time he could remember being happy and sure of his place in the world?

Honestly Steven couldn't be certain if he had ever really fit his family, not truly fit, not since he had been a little boy and his world had been turned upside down by his mother's departure. He had tried to change. He had tried to ignore the lingering feelings of being out of place and for a while pretending had been enough. He had been happy mainly because everyone else had been happy.

Still his fingers lingered on his parent's smiling faces, his father had his arm around Alexis's waist and the brightness of his mother's smile could only be rivalled by the shine from her diamond engagement ring that was on prominent display.

"So you are just going to slope off after everything you've done."

"Jeff." Steven started in surprise practically dropping the last picture into the box and turning to face his brother-in-law. "I didn't hear you knock?"

"Probably because I didn't." Jeff retorted before shutting the door behind him, his blue eyes taking the measure of the man before him before he slammed two folders down on the desk.

"I couldn't believe it you know. I thought that you were exaggerating your involvement. I mean the Steven Carrington I grew up with would never deliberately sabotage the company that once meant everything to him, so I had them pull the files and then had Charleston fax over a copy of the originals." Jeff added shaking his head in disgust. "How could you do it Steven, stand there and lie to your own father?"

"It is complicated."

"Then explain it to me."

"Why Jeff what difference will it make now?" Steven snapped running his hand through his blond hair and ruffling it slightly. "I made a decision, looking back now it was a mistake but at the time…"

"So you admit it was wrong?"

"Look Jeff this is between me and my father, I have already answered to him, I don't have to explain myself to you."

"Yes you do, in case you have forgotten I am still a significant shareholder in this company. Blake wasn't the only one you stabbed in the back." Jeff replied hotly. "What is more you used my recommendation and my friend to enact your petty revenge and for what, does it make it you happy to see everything your father worked himself to the bone for falling apart around him?"

"None of this makes me happy." Steven retorted bitterly. "But I really had no idea what Dobson and his clique were really up to…"

"Ignorance does not excuse you!"

"What more do you want?" Steven all but yelled at him. "I already feel terrible, I was a mistake…Coming back here in the first place was a mistake, I should have stayed in Washington at least there I was achieving something. I was my own man and not merely Blake Carrington's embarrassment."

Snorting Jeff shook his head. "All Blake's son's are an embarrassment, Adam, what a piece of work he is, the only reason he isn't locked up serving life imprisonment for his many heinous crimes is because Mummy and Daddy keep bailing him out and you…I really thought you were different Steven, the closest thing to a brother I ever thought I could have." Jeff broke off his face contorting with contempt. "Blake doesn't need a son like you."

"Why would he?" Steven snapped back his own slow burning fuse finally catching as Jeff pushed at an already sore point. "I mean how can his real children possibly compete when there is such a shining bastion of all things good and perfect in you to take our place. Honestly Jeff sometimes I don't know how you can see so clearly, the light from your halo must be blinding!"

"Why you little…" Jeff hissed his hand darting out and grasping Steven's collar.

"Go on hit me." Steven goaded. "You know you want to, I mean I've destroyed everything haven't I…I deserve it don't I? Go on hit me, prove in yet another way how much more of a man you are then me, how much better a Carrington you would make. Dear god if I didn't know better sometimes the only reason I think you keep re-marrying Fallon is because it gives you the excuse to call Blake father. Come to think of it why don't you just forgo the charade, have him adopt you, I'd quite willingly give up my space in the family tree."

Even though he had goaded him Steven still reeled in surprise when Jeff's fist lashed out and caught him on the chin knocking him back off of his feet and into the desk. Not resisting in the slightest as another punch followed. He deserved it after all. He deserved to be punished for what he had done and since there was no way he could ever make up for such a betrayal Steven was more than happy to take a beating for it. So Steven chose not to lift a hand to defend himself even when Jeff's right hook connected with his stomach and he tasted bile and blood in his mouth.

Pulling back panting Jeff stared down in horror at the crumpled man at his feet. "Oh god what did I…"

"You call that a punch." Steven mocked wiping away the blood that seeped from his cut lip coughing as he tried to shift the foul taste from his mouth. "Seems like that is one lesson Dad hasn't got round to teaching you after all. I am sure he will find the time soon enough."

"Steven I didn't mean…"

"Yes you did and I deserved it so no hard feelings." Steven spat hauling himself to his feet using the edge of his desk as he suddenly felt a little dizzy. "However right now I want to pack and leave before Dobson's lackeys come to throw us out. I have a little pride left Jeff."

He couldn't wait any longer, all he had done most of the day was stare at the clock and avoid the pitying glances of those around him. He needed to talk to her, just to hear her voice would be enough to sooth the almost constant state of agitation that seemed to have overcome him. It was just this interminable waiting, nothing that he could do to influence anything, it was out of his hands now and that was the hardest thing to swallow.

Picking up the phone he dialled the familiar number relieved when it began to ring. Holding his breath until it was answered he felt it catch as a familiar voice answered.

"Alexis Colby…Hello…Look who the hell is this I am busy and expecting some important calls."

Unable to contain a chuckle as Alexis's familiar voice echoed down the line he took a deep breath and spoke softly. "Good Afternoon Alexis..."

"Good Afternoon Carrington."

"Dobson." Adam grunted his reply not looking up from his glass as Frank had the nerve to settle himself in the seat next to him at The Carlton's bar. "I don't recall inviting you to join me."

"Oh come now we are old friends." Frank teased his grey eyes glinting teasingly. "Now come on and join me in a drink I am celebrating…A bottle of champagne…No make that a magnum, you'll join me won't you Carrington?"

"I think I would rather drink arsenic." Adam muttered bitterly not even looking up from his drink to glance at his smug companion. "Besides isn't this a little presumptive you don't have Denver Carrington yet."

"Oh that is simply a formality, Blake Carrington has used up all of his nine lives, there is no way he can come up with the sort of funds he needs in such a short time." Frank insisted almost pompously as he accepted a glass of champagne from the pretty barmaid. "And one for my friend."

"I am not your friend." Adam spat. "Now if you don't mind…"

Tutting Frank leaned over and patted Adam on the back, his smirk only increasing as Adam shifted away from the casual friendly contact. "Come now Carrington we are on the same side after all."

"Are we?" Adam sneered finally lifting his gaze from this whiskey to glare at Frank. "I thought we had an understanding but then you went and stabbed me in the back, I told you what I did in confidence and what did you do you ran straight to Alexis and told her everything."

Sipping on his champagne Frank's eyes narrowed on a sullen Adam. "Oh so that is why you are here sulking instead of working, did Mummy give you a talking to or perhaps she put you over her knee and sent you up to bed without supper?"

"My relationship with my mother is none of your concern." Adam snapped downing his whiskey in one swift shot before moving to leave. "Now if you will excuse me…"

"Wait one second Carrington." Frank insisted his quick hand reaching out and catching Adam's sleeve. "That was personal, your loose tongue forced my hand, it was necessary to remind you just who was in change in our little arrangement. Now we have to look the future, a very bright future I think we can both agree."

"If you manage to pull off your end." Adam retorted bitterly pushing Frank's hand off of him as if Frank was somehow contagious.

"Oh I am going to take Denver Carrington lock stock and barrel you have my word on that." Frank insisted retaining his smug smirk until Adam had disappeared from view, then it dissolved and for a moment there was a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes. "It has to work…God have mercy on me if it doesn't."

The familiar voice caused Alexis to freeze slightly. She had finally been able to put her personal problems out of her mind and concentrate on the business of raising $150 million by four O'clock. Throwing herself into her work had managed to sooth her nerves slightly and then she picked up the phone and instead of it being her banker like she expected there was another very different person at the end of the phone.

"Blake I thought we agreed not to contact each other…we need the element of surprise if we are going to pull this off."

"Alexis relax my office is shut down and providing you don't tell anyone on your end." Blake replied before adding softly. "Besides I missed you."

"Blake…"

"Can't I even say that now?" Blake retorted teasingly. "Heaven help me then if I let it slip that I love you as well."

Sighing Alexis refused to let his sweet words move her. "Blake I have work to do, I am waiting for an important call from my bankers and if I miss it…"

"You are going to be able to get all of the money?" Blake asked sudden fear gripping his heart. "Alexis you can't let me down, I can't let Dobson and his cronies get their hands on Denver Carrington."

"Blake I will have the money but not if you keep me from my work." Alexis muttered testily. "Now please…"

"Alright I'll let you go, just make sure you're at Denver Carrington before five, Dobson will be here to evict me and we need to have a cashiers cheque to pay him."

"I will, now I have to go." Alexis insisted glancing at her watch, it was already three pm and she still had to call at the bank to get the cheques.

"Alexis wait…" Blake added his voice slightly roughened as he twirled the telephone cord around his fingers imaging that it Alexis's former curls. "Did you get my roses?"

"Blake…"

"I was only asking a simple question Alexis."

"Yes I did…They are beautiful Blake." Alexis added guiltily glancing across at her empty sideboard. "Thank you."

Smiling Blake couldn't help but feel a flush of satisfaction, Alexis liked his flowers, and that was only the starting point. Sitting here in his office with nothing better to do but wait as the axe hung above his head Blake had spent his time in the only productive way he could, planning the most romantic evening he could. Letting his voice drop he added gravelly unable to keep his happiness from his voice. "They pale in comparison I am sure."

"Blake don't, you promised to give me space, business discussions are one thing but I just can't handle this right now."

Something in her voice set Blake's teeth on edge and made his confidence falter slightly. He was just so close, last night everything had been perfect and everything he had ever wanted had been literally within his grasp. Now it seemed as though in the light of day things were slipping away and so Blake tightened his grip desperately. "Alexis we can talk later can't we? After dealing with Dobson, we are still going out to celebrate together aren't we? I was thinking since you wanted privacy we could head out of town, perhaps take the helicopter out to the cabin up in the mountains. The view should be spectacular and we would be alone… Alexis please we cannot simply pretend last night never happened and I wouldn't want to in any case. "

"Alexis…" Blake added his fear only mounting, as there was silence down the phone. "Darling are you still there?"

Closing her eyes Alexis couldn't suppress a shiver as Blake's velvet voice caressed her ears with an endearment she thought never would directed at her again and perhaps that was what made her waiver. "I heard you Blake and what I said last night still stands. Providing nothing else comes up…I don't see why not, the cabin should be fine, I am sure the scenery will be lovely."

Finally releasing the breath he had been holding Blake sighed in relief. "Wonderful I will see you in a few hours…And Alexis thank you, really thank you I can't say it enough." Hearing Alexis set down her phone Blake felt his anxiety return.

Glancing quickly at his watch Blake counted down the time. In a few hours it would all be over, Dobson would be thwarted and he would be with Alexis but Denver Carrington would no longer be his to command. In all of this plotting that was one thing Blake had purposefully not thought about. That the company he had built up from nothing would no longer be his and somehow that thought managed to sour all the others.

If only there was some other way…Some way of beating Dobson without loosing Denver Carrington in the process.

Part 5:

The minute hand on the clock ticked round and Blake's eyes were locked on every single tiny movement. It was ten minutes to five and Alexis still hadn't arrived.

"Determined to cling on the bitter end Carrington." A mocking voice commented from the door to the conference room. "I do hope you have already packed up your personal belongings and are ready to leave with no fuss, I would hate to have my new security staff have to drag you off the premises."

Clenching his jaw Blake's gaze remained locked on the clock and he steepled his fingers together as his eyes bore into it willing time to slow or freeze altogether.

Alexis had given him her word

They had shook on it.

She wouldn't let him down.

Not like he had let her down Blake's conscience supplied mockingly. Of course this would be the perfect revenge for her, she could punish him without even having to lift a finger, see his life work destroyed without having to take any of the blame. After all who could blame Alexis is she somehow failed to raise $150 million?

No…No… Blake refused to give that thought serious consideration. Alexis couldn't…Alexis wouldn't do that to him, she had to be here, she would be here because she gave him her word.

"Oh too good to converse with the likes of me." Frank sneered moving from the door to take a seat at the conference table before glancing at his watch. "Five minutes left Carrington, can you hear the bells tolling your doom yet? Why don't we just get on with it, then you can crawl off somewhere to drown your sorrows?" Frank drawled rolling his eyes as Blake stubbornly shook his head not even glancing up from the clock.

"You really are the most stubborn man I have ever met." Frank muttered under his breath. "Two minutes…" Frank began when suddenly the conference door opened and in rushed a pink-cheeked Alexis. "Alexis what are you doing here?" Frank demanded yet Alexis seemed not to hear him.

"Sorry damn traffic wasn't moving, I had to half run the last two blocks." Alexis wheezed slamming her briefcase down on the table before reaching down to pull off one of her heels. "Look at them practically ruined, you owe me a new pair Blake and Louboutin's aren't cheap."

"Alexis I will buy you the whole damn shop now do you have the cheque?"

"In my briefcase." Alexis muttered waving towards the case on the table as she continued to massage her abused feet.

"Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on here?" Frank insisted glancing between a scowling Alexis and a suddenly exuberant Blake a sick realisation slowly beginning to creep over him.

"Oh I will tell you what is going on Mr Dobson." Blake insisted clicking open Alexis's briefcase and retrieving the cashier's cheque that sat on the top lifting it out he slapped it down on the conference table in front of Frank watching in delight as all the blood seemed to drain from Dobson's face.

"No you…You can't…How could you have…" Frank babbled before breaking off and turning to glare at Alexis. "You gave it to him, dear god woman have you got no pride the man damn near destroys you and then all he has to do is lift his little finger and you come rushing back…Well it won't do any good, my superiors still own close to 35% of Denver Carrington shares they will make your life hell Carrington by the time we are through with you your own board will be throwing your off! After all why would they want to keep a CEO who has brought all of this down on their head?"

"Oh I didn't lend him the money Mr Dobson." Alexis couldn't help but gloat. "I bought Blake's Denver Carrington shares, from now on the Denver Carrington board will be dealing with me. Now as this building belongs to me I would kindly request that you remove yourself from it just like I have taken steps to remove you from Colby Co's board, your business in Denver is over Mr Dobson I suggest you leave before you are thrown out permanently."

Shaking slightly as his hand closed on the cashier's cheque Frank could only imagine how his superiors were going to react. They were not going to be happy and that was an understatement, Frank could only hope that he managed to survive it.

"I think this calls for some champagne." Blake insisted his smile only growing now that he had seen Dobson escorted from the building.

"Personally I would kill for a cup of tea." Alexis muttered. "That and a new pair of shoes." She added bitterly massaging her sore feet before slipping them back into her heels. "Oh before I forget there is another cheque in my briefcase, for the remainder of the balance."

Snorting as he found the other cheque Blake shook his head, $50 million. To most people it represented unimaginable wealth but for Blake it wasn't much to represent a life's work.

"I have something else for you as well." Alexis said softly reaching into her briefcase and retrieving another folded document. Running her fingers along the crease she paused for a moment, fuelling Blake's curiosity so that when she finally handed the paper over he was well and truly intrigued.

Opening it he scanned the first few lines, dropping the paper onto the conference table as if scolded.

"You can't be serious?" Blake gasped, glancing up at a deadly serious Alexis.

Retrieving the contract Alexis began to read aloud.

"I Alexis Colby, the undersigned, do formally agree to allow the seller, Blake Carrington, the period of one year from the below date to repurchase the stock, stated below, sold to the undersigned on the below date. The purchase price will be set for the period of one year, at the sum of $150 million.

The undersigned also stipulates that in the management of the stock, and as such controlling interest in Denver Carrington, hence after know as the company, the undersigned will endeavour to keep the company as a separate and solvent entity and will not enter into negotiations or any undertakings that would merge the company with any other corporations or that would lead to a significant devaluation in the company's holdings….

Well I think that seems rather straight forward to me." She added drolly.

Unable to believe what he was hearing Blake retrieved the contract shaking his head as he confirmed her words. "You are certifiable."

Smiling at his choice of words Alexis nudged him with her shoulder, and leant against the conference table. "Well I've certainly driven you crazy from time to time."

"Oh yes…But this is too much Alexis…"

Laughing at his conceit Alexis quickly corrected him. "You seem very sure of yourself Mr Carrington, you only have a year to turn that $50 million into $150 million. I am only giving you a sporting chance, not handing you your stock back tied up in a nice red bow."

"You think I can't do it?" Blake scoffed feeling the thrill of a challenge bring out his fighting spirit, his dark eyes lighting up and suddenly he looked ten years younger.

Just a few hours ago he had reconciled himself to spending his last few years looking after his youngest child and trying his best to win Alexis back. Yet now with a finishing line in his sight and a trophy to aim for Blake felt as though retiring was the last thing he wanted. What had he been thinking?

"Very well Mrs Colby I accept your little challenge."

Beaming as the man she knew and loved finally re-emerged from the ashes of his latest defeat Alexis picked up her silver ballpoint pen; biting her lip playfully she passed the slender pen between her fingers before offering it to Blake. "Then sign on the dotted line Mr Carrington."

Snatching the pen as Alexis waved it teasingly under his nose Blake bent over and after scanning the document one last time he signed his name.

"One last thing!" Alexis added the moment he had signed both copies.

Raising an eyebrow Blake teasingly replied. "Now you tell me."

Laughing at his worried tone Alexis rubbed his arm. "So suspicious Mr Carrington… No there is no hidden trap I would just prefer if this little agreement remained between the two of us, I think it's better that the children don't become involved; besides this is supposed to be a challenge for you."

"Blake Carrington against the world!" Blake quipped causing Alexis to laugh.

"Well it wouldn't be the first time would it?" Alexis answered softly. "You were determined to do it by yourself once before, I think it's only fitting that you reclaim your empire the same way; don't you?"

"Well last time I also had you in my corner." Blake commented wryly enjoying the banter between them.

"I'll always be there for you Blake, you know that."

Blushing slightly at the intense way she said that Blake realised now might be a good time to finally discuss the 'Pink elephant in the room.' "Alexis about last night…"

Yet as he started Blake discovered he had not a clue what to say. Last night in her office seemed like a world away from here and now. A precious perfect memory that discussing could only taint; their empathy had been so complete then, she had known what he needed without a word being spoken. Could that still be the case, did he even need to explain just how close to the edge he had felt until she had pulled him back, rescuing him from himself?

"What about it?" Alexis asked warily, unable to meet his intense gaze, dreading the conversation that was coming. Yet she had avoided it for as long as she could and somehow here with Blake it was easier to push her doubts aside, just like when she was in his arms the night before. Until the phone had rang Alexis had been lost in their own little world.

"Thank you. I was close to the edge last night and you…somehow you managed to bring me back to life Alexis if it hadn't been for you…" Blake whispered softly his voice breaking towards the end. "Darling I can never thank you enough."

Alexis's head jerked up and their gazes met, she was surprised to find no pretence in his eyes just boundless affection and Alexis felt her resistance melting. "You're welcome."

Snorting at her smug reply Blake slipped his arm round her waist leaning in to place a kiss on her cheek, a kiss that lingered as he nuzzled against her skin. She just smelt so good, felt so strong in his arms; it lit something alight in him that he thought had died. Alexis didn't need protecting, not from the world and certainly not from him; there was no need to second guess his every gesture. She made him feel alive, like the man he used to be. Like a drug, a drug he could quickly become addicted to.

"Blake…" Alexis teased him playfully trying to push him away turning her face away from his kiss, pleasantly surprised when his grip on her tightened and he tried unsuccessfully to capture her lips, his butterfly kisses moving across her alabaster cheek.

Kissing the corner of her mouth Blake felt her smile and the warmth of her breath on his face as she chuckled at his attempt to claim her.

"Behave Blake."

Sliding down to nuzzle the underside of her jaw, Blake felt her pulse quicken as he sucked at the soft skin just above her artery. "Give me a reason why I should?" He murmured against her skin, relishing the way she moaned and goosebumps broke out across her exposed flesh, his hands moving to touch as much of it as possible.

Moaning Alexis lifted her chin giving him as much access as he needed her emerald eyes widening as she heard the door to the conference room open and a pair of astonished blue eyes took in the scene before her.

Smirking victoriously Alexis slid her hand into Blake's hair tilting his mouth back up to hers, allowing him to finally claim her lips for his own. Yet her eyes remained locked on their horrified silent onlooker, it had taken ten years to achieve this victory, and it was just as sweet as she had always hoped it would be.

Part 6:

He was floating on air.

Alexis's hair was still as soft as he remembered as it slid between his fingers, a little too short but that was all that had changed. Her lips were still as pliant and passionate and her body…The warmth of the woman in his arms always amazed Blake as did her responsiveness, it was like he was lost in one of his vivid dreams and Blake was finding it increasingly difficult to retain control.

"God Alexis I want you." Blake gasped as they broke apart both breathing heavily, his hands practically shaking as they slid down Alexis's back pulling her so close they were practically one as in his eagerness he pressed her towards the boardroom table his joy turning to horror as Alexis's suddenly froze before panicking wildly, her palms beating at his chest.

"Blake no…not….here…not like…" Alexis insisted pressing both her hands against Blake's chest, pushing him away as she tried to rein in the sudden upsurge of blind panic and make sense of her wildly vacillating thoughts.

It wasn't rational but it was there clawing at her throat, the urge to scream and back into a corner, it was just too close to that other encounter and Alexis went with her instincts the ones that screamed at her to move. It was only when she was safely free from Blake's embrace her shaking hands resting on the smooth expanse of polished oak that now stood between them that Alexis could even bring her breathing back under control.

Just what the hell had she been thinking?

Nothing at all it had seemed.

At first she had been carried away in the moment, her and Blake together against the world, the way it should have been all along a part of her still insisted. In some ways it still felt so right, his loving arms wrapped around her, comforting her. However if Alexis was honest there had also been a baser motive, after all even though she hadn't pushed Blake away when he kissed her cheek she hadn't actively returned his attentions until she became aware of their audience.

All those years of being made to feel second best, of having her nose rubbed in their 'oh so perfect love affair', of having to stomach the fact that although her own children loved her they undoubtedly 'liked' Krystle better. God it had felt good to finally be able to prove to Blake's ex-stenographer that in the end Alexis was the victor. That if she wanted to Blake was right there for the taking and that nothing Krystle could do would be able to change that.

Yet when a broken Krystle had simply vanished without so much as a whimper something had died inside Alexis souring any joy in her hollow victory and so she had tried to push that feeling aside by throwing herself into Blake's kisses and it had worked for a while. Blake's kisses were just as skilful and passionate as ever, just as thrilling and tender but when she felt the hard edge of the table against her back Alexis hadn't been able to contain her reaction.

In a moment she had been back in her office and all the associated feelings of hurt, pain and fear had come crashing down, every feeling of helplessness that she had suppressed since then, refusing to give into such a thing as irrational fear; all of that swept over her like a tsunami.

"Alexis…Darling are you alright?" Blake asked softly edging cautiously towards her like he would a startled filly liable to bolt.

"I can't do this." Alexis whispered yet her strangled reply carried in the quiet room.

"Can't do what?"

"This…Us…I just can't. I can't give you what you want Blake." Alexis added raising her large emerald eyes to stare pleadingly into Blake's horrified dark orbs. "I need to leave…You need to let me go…" Alexis added not caring that she was babbling as she reached for her briefcase.

"No wait please wait." Blake pleaded. "Just tell me what is wrong, did I do something, say something? Just tell me whatever I did I can fix it, I can change, we can fix this Alexis, just tell me what to do."

"Not this you can't." Alexis insisted dragging her briefcase closer to her body as she edged around the table her eyes flickering between Blake and the door before she even realised what she was doing.

Stepping between her and the door Blake lifted his hands reassuringly. "I am not going to hurt you Alexis, I just want to talk to you, whatever reassurances you need…"

"Won't mean a thing."

"Alexis I am not going to make the same mistakes again, I know deep in my bones that we belong together we always had I was just too stupid and too stubborn to admit it before." Blake whispered soothingly yet Alexis couldn't be soothed by his soft plea. "Darling I love you, no matter what you need I can be the one to give it to you."

Logically Alexis knew Blake wasn't going to hurt her, he hadn't hurt her the night before after all but somehow that had been so very different. Blake had been a broken man last night and Alexis the one in a powerful position; he had needed her not the other way around. Making love to him then had seemed to flow naturally, it had felt right, it had been the perfect culmination of their emotional openness; they had been so close mentally and so in sync emotionally that the physical had just happened.

Yet last night hadn't changed everything. Deep down where it mattered Alexis wasn't sure she could trust Blake, the hurt ran too deep to be washed away by a few pretty words or loving kisses. Even if she wanted to lie to Blake or even to herself, to fall back into his arms and their life like nothing had happened Alexis knew now it would not be so simple as that.

That was without even considering Dex in all of this. After all last night Alexis had cheated on him and she had felt guilty afterwards, she had hardly slept a wink, tossing and turning in her bed as she stared at Dex's accusing empty pillow. Yet she could in a way justify that one time, could find a way to live with her actions it had been so removed from normal life.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't say that." Blake snapped regretting his sharp words when Alexis seemed flinch. "You don't need to apologise, I know this is my fault, all I do is hurt you even when I don't mean to."

"Then let me go…Just give me some space Blake please." Alexis added refusing to beg yet realising her voice was wavering dangerously. "It is just too much."

Sighing Blake felt his bright future unravel, the threads ripped from his fingers as his eyes remained locked on Alexis's downcast face. Yet even in his despair he felt a flicker of hope remain as an old adage his mother used to repeat suddenly popped into his head and he mumbled it aloud without even realising "If you love something set it free…"

"If it comes back…" Alexis added her emerald eyes flickering up to meet Blake's gaze as he added softly. "Then it's yours."

Swallowing as she stared into Blake's dark eyes Alexis couldn't help but continue sadly, her words faltering at the end, "But if it doesn't…" Tearing her gaze away Alexis suddenly felt anxious to be anywhere but here... anywhere but staring into Blake's broken face.

Clenching his fists together Blake could only watch as the love of his life walked towards the door as the end of that sentence screamed in his mind. "it never was."

No this wasn't happening…It couldn't be happening.

Not after everything…Not after all the meticulous planning.

How could things have gone so very wrong?

Standing frozen as the telephone receiver slipped from his suddenly slack grip Charles stared lifelessly out of the large panoramic veranda window, yet his gaze was far from the spectacular view of crashing surf down on the beach below or even the merrily dancing palm trees. Instead his attention was further a field, his imagination locked somewhere on a boardroom in Denver Colorado of all places where everything that he had been plotting had suddenly and disastrously gone up in smoke.

It was so unbelievable that despite Dobson breaking all their careful rules about making direct contact Charles still couldn't believe it.

He had planned everything so meticulously. He had with his father's help laid out so well laid a maze with the perfect enticements that Carrington hadn't even noticed he was being led by the nose to his doom. Their plots had been so detailed with back ups for almost all possible scenarios, all Dobson had to do was follow out their instructions…

Yet Charles realised crucially in their arrogances they had made one key mistake. They had grossly underestimated either Blake Carrington's persuasive abilities and natural luck or Alexis Colby's depth of feeling for her first husband.

It was not a mistake Charles Davenport would ever be making again.

This time the gloves would be coming off…This time there would be no holds barred…No one would be safe.

They had thought they could simply beat Carrington at his own game on his own turf by only bending the rules when in order to win Charles was quickly realising they would need to throw the rulebook out of the window. This time it wouldn't be enough to try and isolate Carrington from his former supporters, this time they would need to decimate that support first if they wanted to destroy the man.

Shaking his head Charles couldn't begin to wonder what was special about Carrington that he could inspire such loyalty in some and such loathing in others. Eventually the man had to be made accountable for his crimes and the Davenports had hardly shirked from attacking any innocent victims in their path if it cleared their way. He could barely contain his snort of irritation and perverse amusement as he wondered just how Alexis Colby would react to the knowledge that bailing out Carrington had finally placed her front and centre in their sights, somewhere that in Charles opinion she should have been all along…However his father…

"Charles was that news from Denver? Is it ours, is Denver Carrington finally ours?"

Swallowing nervously Charles pushed his anger at Alexis Colby aside and made his way into his father's room, staring down at the sick old man in the bed who was clinging to his oxygen mask like it was his only lifeline, Charles pushing aside the realisation that in some ways it literally was. Wishing with all his might that this was the one report he didn't have to deliver personally.

"We lost it…Blake sold his stock enough to cover his loan." Charles muttered wincing as his elderly father began to shake, his long fingers gripping his coverlet so tight his knuckles turned white. "We were beaten to the punch and now Carrington doesn't even own Denver Carrington anymore."

"No…NO!"

"Father calm down please….The doctors…"

"Who?" The old man gasped his breathing heavy and erratic. "How?"

Gritting his teeth Charles did nothing to contain the contempt that tinged his voice, contempt that normally he kept hidden out of respect for his father. "Alexis Colby that's how."

The bark of sudden laughter caught Charles by surprise. "Father what…?"

"She did it…Finally…" He gasped his breathing speeding up as the old man chuckled and snorted. "After all these years…" He added and Charles had to shake his head in disbelief. "She finally fulfilled her promise, to get Blake…"

"Father what are you…" Charles began again his confusion turning quickly to panic as the heart monitor to his right quickly began to bleep as his father's heart rate shot through the roof, yet instead of nice steady spikes the cardiogram seemed to shoot all over the place like a child's etchasketch.

"Father!" Charles snapped turning to slam his hand on the emergency button yet his father's surprisingly firm grip stopped him.

"No…it's time…" The old man gasped forcing a smile despite his pain. "Be strong…my son."

"You can't leave we still have so much to finish, you promised to help me." Charles practically yelled trying to pry the old man's hand from his sleeve. "We still have scores to settle both yours and mine."

"You don't…my help…Finish your…Me proud…"

"I need you here." Charles pleaded watching as a fond smile lit up the old man's aristocratic features and his blue eyes twinkled fondly.

Yet that light suddenly diminished and his grip went slack allowing Charles to dart forward and slam the emergency button, which scrambled the doctor and nurse that were stationed down the hall. However before they had even slammed the doors open Charles knew it was too late, the man he had called been privileged to call father for twenty five years of his life had gone, slipped away on his own terms just as he had lived.

The doctor and nurse futilely tried to revive him and Charles stepped back to let them try whilst knowing in his heart that it was too late. After a few minutes they gave up turning to Charles apologetically yet he dismissed them with barely a glance and with a sneer at their insincere platitudes of commiserations. They didn't mean it, none of them ever did. The Davenports were hardly noted for being generous or kind employers but since they were the only employers hereabout that hardly mattered and Charles didn't care for their false pity.

Only when he was finally alone did he step over to the bed and reach over to close his father's eyelids, closing his own out of respect for the man who had shaped the world as he chose. The man who defied traditional conventions, and laughed in the face of death; who had been many different men over the years as necessity had demanded it, shedding names and identities as easily as a snake did it's skin.

Charles Davenport Snr as he would be buried…Logan Rhinewood that had shaped the world to his will and had taken a young Charles under his wing…Cecil Baldwin Colby that the world had once thought they had known.

Well Charles was finally through with hiding, no longer did his father's recognisable face make it a necessity to act through shady intermediaries. This time he would take care of his business himself, because when he dealt the deathblow to Blake Carrington and Alexis Colby he wanted to be there in person to see the realisation in their eyes that this was all of their own making. This game was far from over; in fact in many ways it had only just begun.


	2. Episode 2: The Will

Episode 2: The Will

Part 1:

Staring at the plate in front of her Alexis toyed with the comfit of duck, no matter how delicious the dish was Alexis had barely touched it, having little appetite or interest in eating right now. In truth Alexis had little interest in anything right now; her mind was still stuck repeating that terrible mess of a meeting with Blake and it was tearing her in two.

In many ways Alexis knew she had made the right decision, her thoughts and more importantly her emotions were currently all over the place, pulling her back and forth between the two men in her life. The terrible pain of the original break-up with Blake still plagued her, still affected her confidence and her peace of mind. She had missed him so desperately in the last few months and if it hadn't been for Dex….

Just the brief thought of Dex caused her heart to clench and her stomach to churn with guilt. Dex didn't deserve half of the shit she had put him through over the years, true he had also had his moments and at times he had managed to hurt her deeply; something which after her first marriage to Blake Alexis had sworn never to give any man that sort of power over her again. Yet despite his wandering libido Dex had always been there when she needed him.

He had certainly been her rock through everything over the last few months. He loved her without condition, he always had, could accept the woman she was, even when she was at her worst and Dex had often seen her at her worst. It was so desperately ironic Alexis mused that it wasn't Dex but Blake of all people who seemed to bring out the best in her character and she the worst in his.

Perhaps it was because Dex appeared to love her unconditionally, simply because he would always be there not matter what she did to him that Alexis ended up treating him so poorly? With Blake the fear of loosing him was always at the back of her mind, with Dex, did the fact that he kept coming back even after she had lied and cheated on him mean that subconsciously Alexis kept trying to find new ways to hurt and test him?

Was that why none of her relationships seemed to last? Was her selfishness simply a defence mechanism, knowing that she was going to end up hurt and alone like she always feared Alexis pushed and taunted and was thoughtlessly cruel in an effort to speed up the process?

"Mummy are you alright, you've been staring at your plate for ten minutes now and you haven't taken a bite?"

Startled by the question Alexis blinked in surprise, she had completely forgotten that she wasn't dining alone and had allowed her guard to drop, and judging by the genuine concern on her daughter's face it had dropped quite a long way.

"I guess I am just not very hungry this evening, or particularly good company…It has just been a very trying day Fallon, I'm sorry."

"Is it Daddy or Dex…Or both?" Fallon asked not surprised when her mother seemed to shut down at her personal questions and so she added quickly. "Mummy I just want to help, you look so lost and alone, perhaps if you talk about it?"

Smiling slightly Alexis folded her napkin, setting it down on the table as she rose from her seat moving to stand beside her concerned daughter. Leaning down Alexis pressed a kiss to Fallon's forehead. "How can I be alone when I have such a wonderful daughter?"

"Mummy I am serious, please talk to me, perhaps I can help?"

"Fallon I am touched that you want to help but this is something I need to sort out for myself."

"So it is about Daddy and Dex then." Fallon muttered knowingly.

"It is about me and what I want." Alexis corrected her. "And right now I don't know what that is…And I think it is best if I try to work through this myself…" She added when Fallon opened her mouth to interject. "I know you want to help me but you cannot be unbiased in this Fallon, Blake is your father and you love him."

"But Mummy…" Fallon began determined to persuade her mother before their conversation was suddenly interrupted by the ringing phone and Fallon sighed deeply as Alexis used that as an excuse to avoid any further discussion. If only the others could be here to help back her up, to try and reach out to Alexis and reassure her that she wasn't alone that she still had her family to rely on.

Leaning back in her chair Fallon stared across at the empty dining chairs, the children were spending some time with their father and Jeff had offered to take them for the whole weekend and the house felt empty without them. It almost seemed that their whole family was slowly disintegrating. First it had been Alexis and Blake, then her and Jeff, now even her ties with her siblings seemed strained. Adam had been distant and busy for the past few weeks but Adam had always been moody and it wasn't as though they had ever really been close. However Fallon had always been close to Steven and yet even her relationship with her baby brother wasn't what it once was.

"I see…Yes thank you for ringing me Mark." Alexis's almost brittle tone cut into Fallon's musing as she turned to stare at her Mother who seemed to be twisting the telephone cord tightly around her finger.

"Contact Patrick and have the jet ready would you…Yes I want to leave tonight; I will pack and be there in an hour, have them ready to take off then, no delays." Alexis added sharply not even waiting for a reply before she set the receiver down cutting off Mark's reply.

"Mummy what's happened? Where are you going?"

Startled by Fallon's question Alexis tore her eyes away from the silent phone, biting her bottom lip in a nervous gesture before meeting her daughter's gaze. "Wyoming…It's on the news, Sam Dexter passed away this evening."

"And you think going tonight is a good idea?" Fallon questioned. "Shouldn't you phone Dex first before just turning up?"

Shaking her head Alexis brushed aside Fallon's concerns, since when had Alexis Colby been concerned with the social niceties like asking for permission to do anything? All that mattered was that Dex would be alone and hurting, surrounded by people who didn't love him the way she did, who couldn't and wouldn't be able to see through the tough façade he would put up to keep them out.

"I have to go Fallon. Dex will need me and don't you think I owe him to be there when he needs me for a change?"

And despite her wish otherwise Fallon had to admit she couldn't argue otherwise.

"And then the prince kissed the princess and they both lived happily ever after." Blake added softly closing the book and forcing a smile for his little princess who stared up at him with her big blue eyes.

Eyes that looked at him so trustingly and for a moment Blake almost felt guilty for spinning such a tale. Even though it was a children's story and wasn't meant to be taken literally Blake wondered if they would all be better off if as children they weren't raised on tales of love at first sight and happily ever afters, when real life so very rarely lived up to those expectations?

If only kissing the girl of your dreams was enough to live happily ever after. Yet Blake couldn't recall a happily ever after that started with a kiss, only for the princess to run away from her handsome prince claiming she needed space and time to decide whether it was Prince Charming she was in love with or really Buttons the stable boy…cowboy…

Feeling a sharp tug on his sleeve Blake gazed down at his sleepy little girl, his smile genuine this time. "Good night angel." Blake whispered pressing a kiss to Krystina's forehead as he tucked her in. "Tomorrow Daddy has the day off, how about after school we go riding?"

Watching as Krystina nodded sleepily before yawning widely Blake stood and walked towards the door, surprised to see it ajar as a silent Krystle watched them interact from the doorway.

"I just came to say goodnight as well." Krystle muttered awkwardly inching round Blake and crossing to her daughter's bed leaning down to kiss her cheek and smoothing down her blankets. "I love you baby."

Then joining Blake at the door as he switched off the main light and the room became softly lit by the corner night light Krystle watched her daughter snuggle down before her gaze shifted to the man standing next to her. There was an air of sadness and resignation hanging about him that hadn't been there at breakfast and certainly had been absent when she had briefly visited Denver Carrington only to walk in on him and Alexis…

Swallowing as she pushed that painful memory aside Krystle refused to let her personal feelings about Blake's reunion with Alexis negatively affect her already precarious relationship with her ex-husband. It wasn't like Blake was at all ignorant about her feelings when it came to Alexis and as much as she thought Blake's first wife was poison to everything she touched Krystle still needed her help to bring Krystina out of her shell.

Yet she couldn't ignore Blake when he was troubled, it had always been her weakness and no matter how hurt or angry or resolute Krystle was, one vulnerable expression on Blake's face had her wavering. So as Blake shut the door and turned to head down the corridor Krystle placed a stalling hand on his arms before she had consciously thought to and Blake turned questioningly to stare at her.

"Krystle?"

Flushing slightly under such intense scrutiny Krystle wasn't sure how to delicately broach the subject and as Blake shifted uncomfortably and shied away from her touch Krystle knew it was now or never.

"Something is wrong I know…I can tell when you are upset and trying to hide it."

"It is nothing, today was simply very taxing, it is not everyday a man loses his life's work Krystle."

"That's not it." Krystle retorted before she could stop herself cursing her inbuilt straightforward nature as Blake bristled defensively.

"Blake I do know you, it isn't just Denver Carrington, you knew what was going to happen this morning and you weren't this depressed…This is different…deeper…I just…" Krystle stumbled over her words as Blake grew redder in the face and his jaw tightened. "I am here if you need to talk to someone."

For a moment Blake felt a flash of irrational anger, he had never been a man who wanted to talk about his feelings and certainly not his pain and the last person he would want to rake over his problems with right now would be his ex-wife. Yet as Krystle stared at him pleadingly Blake felt most of his anger evaporate, Krystle meant well, she just couldn't leave anyone to suffer alone.

"Thank you Krystle but there are something's I need to deal with by myself…"

"It's Alexis isn't it?" Krystle added knowing she was pushing but unable to stop herself. "Blake is she really worth all of this heartache?"

Sighing Blake hung his head, it was a simple question but the answer was far more complicated even if it boiled down to a few simple words. "Every second if it means I get her back." Blake added turning and striding down the corridor refusing to continue this conversation when he was already so emotionally raw, ignoring the question that Krystle called out after him refusing to even entertain that idea.

"But what if you don't?"

Part 2:

The phone was ringing, of course it was, it was typical of his luck that five minutes after getting under the shower and just as he had began shampooing his hair that would be the moment his phone decided to ring. Cursing in a few languages Jackson wiped the stinging shampoo from his eyes, flicking back his still soapy dark hair as he fumbled for a towel before padding out into the bedroom to answer the still ringing phone.

"Hello?" Jackson barely managed to grunt before another far too excited voice echoed down the phone despite the crackling connection.

"We got him!"

For a moment Jackson blinked his tired brain trying to make the connection and it took a moment longer before he recognised the voice. "Shit you mean.."

"The phone tap finally paid off."

"Shit." Jackson couldn't help but curse again as he ran his fingers through his sodden hair and then down over the rough stubble that graced his chin. "Holy shit did you get a trace? Are we really certain it was him?"

"Oh it was him, I would recognise that bastard's voice anywhere…He wasn't best pleased you know."

"I don't give a shit about his mood can we use it?"

"Use it; I'm ready to start packing…"

"No not yet." Jackson muttered unable to shake off the suspicions that this was too easy.

"Jackson this is what we have been waiting for, all the years, the only reason you took that damn job in the first place; he has to pay for what he did to us, to countless others…"

"And he will I promise, but I won't rush blindly into a trap. Despite his set backs he still has money and power and connections, all that buys protection and we need to be twice as prepared as anyone he can hire."

"But…"

"Baby please just hold on a little longer ok?" Jackson pleaded. "I am not putting us at risk not until I am certain we can crucify him alright?"

For a long moment there was silence down the phone before a sulky voice demanded. "If that is really the reason…"

"What other reason could there be?"

"Oh I can think of two and they both go by the name Colby."

"Now you're being paranoid…Look can we not have this conversation now, I need to get back in the shower and wash the rest of this shit out of my hair…" 

"Jackson I love you don't do anything stupid."

Sighing Jackson replied softly. "I love you too Baby, everything I am doing I am doing for us you have to know that."

After a long pause the sulky voice softened slightly. "Come home soon?"

"As soon as I can I promise, I will I'll tell the boss I am visiting another horse sale, now I really have to go…I'll see you soon, keep safe." Jackson added setting down the phone his stomach churning with a mixture of excitement and guilt.

They were so close, so close to getting revenge on the man that destroyed everything, Jackson knew he should be focusing on that right now but somehow it was thoughts of having to leave Colby Acres that dominated his thoughts. In all the years of his life all Jackson had ever really wanted was a home and a family to come back to, he had struggled to find his niche. Once he had been so close but it had been ripped away. Jackson hadn't expected to feel at home here. How could he a boy raised in the slums of London ever expect to fit in with the wealthy Colby dynasty? Yet fit he did and when time came to finally enact his revenge Jackson realised it would be with a heavy heart, after all as sad as it was to admit Alexis and Fallon were the closest thing to a family he had ever had.

The rain hadn't stopped all day.

Leaning his head back against the head rest Dex watched blankly as the heavy rain continued to beat against the windscreen on his car.

It had rained at the hospital where Dex had nothing to do but wait for the inevitable and stare out of the window to avoid having to actually converse with his sister and watch time drag past.

It had continued to rain when the doctor had finally come out to see them and shook his head sadly. _"I'm sorry we did everything we could but he just slipped away."_

It had rained when Marin had broken down into tears, the first genuine emotion Dex had seen from her since she was a little girl and before she had discovered how effective tears were at blackmailing her Daddy.

It seemed to pour even heavier when Dex had tried to reach out and comfort his sister only for her to turn on him in scorn her dark eyes flashing despite the liquid pouring out of them.

"_Don't pretend like you care Dex, you've been waiting for him to die for years, now you can get finally your hands on Dexter International that is all you love in this family."_

Dex had tried to protest, tried to explain that although Sam and he had fought most of her life that there had been a time when they had been close, when he had been a proper father to him and that despite everything Dex did love him. Yet Marin hadn't bothered to stick around, leaving Dex alone with the rain and his memories.

_Big strong arms lifting him up and setting him in front of his father on a horse, Dex giggling as the trotting motion made him bounce all over the place but strong arms kept him safe._

"_That's my boy…Go easy on the reins son don't want to pull old Champions mouth about."_

How could he have forgotten that, he had only been young, perhaps four or five but Sam had taken it upon him to teach his first born to ride? It had been his father and not the grandfather who Dex later came to idolise who had been there when he was little, the man who dropped him off for his first day of school, the one who dried his tears with the corner of his shirt when Dex had fallen from his bike and skinned his knee; the man who comforted him when he had a nightmare and the father who hadn't been afraid to hug and kiss his own son and tell him he loved him.

They had been so close when he had been younger, why had things changed?

Mother…

The day his mother died giving birth to Marin, something else had died. Dex had always blamed Sam for pulling away, for leaving him to deal with his grief alone whilst he lavished all his love and attention on the new baby. Yet now as a father himself Dex had gained a new perspective. Babies were hard work and Dexter men were stubborn.

How hard had it been for Dex to admit that he needed help with Jack?

If it hadn't been for the fact that he wanted Alexis back so desperately using any means to get her, even his own son, how long would Dex had tried to do everything alone as well? Dex had never tried to imagine how things had been from Sam's perspective back then or since, his very real anger at being abandoned and replaced always blinded him.

Yet now with his father dead that old resentment seemed so pointless and for the first time Dex could try to put himself in his father's shoes.

A dead wife, a new baby demanding his attention and a resentful ten year old boy who refused to speak to him and Sam had tried a few times to reach out to him Dex now realised, but being wrapt up in his own grief a young Dex hadn't recognised that fact. He had played up for his father's attention, getting into fights, minor vandalism, talking back until he tested Sam's patience to breaking point.

So then his grandfather had stepped in, taking the angry boy off of Sam's hands. Dex still remembered that summer as though it was yesterday; it had been a defining moment in his life. Angry and bitter he had tried lashing out at Farnsworth Dexter only to get his hide tanned for his cheek. The Patriarch of the Dexter clan was an uncompromising man; if you did something you did it with everything you had or not at all. He had taken Dex out on the cattle drive with him; he had gone on that trip a boy and returned in many ways a man, his grandfather's man.

The time apart had cooled his temper, had taught him control, had given him a goal to strive for, his grandfather's approval yet it had also built a barrier between father and son, a barrier that continued to grow over the years until Dex's anger and irritation grew to contempt. All he had been able to see for so many years was his father's weaknesses.

How Sam let his more successful friends like Blake Carrington and Cecil Colby push him around in business. How he spoiled Marin until she was rotten and never showed Dex one tenth of the same affection. The knowledge that he gained as he grew only seemed to reinforce that opinion. Sam Dexter was a coward, a man who drank too much, who had no control over himself, a man who rather than find a new wife of his own would brag about his conquests with other men's wives instead.

Sam Dexter became the family failure in Dex's eyes, the weak link in their otherwise impressive lineage. It was far easier to think of him that way, rather than mourn the loss of a relationship with his own father that had once meant to the world to him.

Biting his lip as he slammed his hand on the steering wheel of his car Dex felt the tears pricking at his eyes yet he refused to let them fall, he didn't deserve the relief that crying would bring. He didn't deserve that comfort. So instead he sat in his car parked outside of the family homestead watching the rain, unable to even get out of his car and walk the few steps to the front door. Dex felt unworthy to be in that house after all the sins he had had committed and blamed his father for, knowing that it was finally too late to say sorry.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even notice the other car coming up the drive until it was parked beside his own; even then he barely glanced at it. Even though it was late it was probably only one of Marin's friends or one of his father's acquaintances coming to pay their respects and Dex wasn't sure he could handle that right now.

Still it was hardly likely they would find him, it was dark and it was raining hard and he was sitting in his car alone…

The rapid knocking on the passenger window nearly caused Dex to jump out of his skin and for a moment he scowled and considered ignoring them but then they knocked again and it was raining hard they were probably already soaked through. Cursing whatever deities were listening that deep down someone had made him a gentleman Dex reached over and popped open the door, his astonishment only growing when it wasn't some old acquaintance or his angry sister but a trembling Alexis who clambered inside her whole body trembling.

"Jesus it's pissing it down out there!"

Taking one look at her Dex couldn't contain himself his emotions had been through the wringer today and his control was negligible, he burst out laughing. Alexis's normally perfectly coiffed hair was plastered to her head; wet curls framing her face, which had mascara trails down her cheeks. The silk blouse she was wearing was drenched and clung to her tiny frame and it didn't take x-ray vision to see she wasn't wearing a bra.

"Shut up Dex." Alexis snapped punching his arm as she shrugged off the completely useless summer jacket that had done nothing to protect her from the downpour, reaching into her handbag for her small compact. "Is it always this wet in Wyoming?"

"On occasion." Dex muttered now that his initial hysteria had passed and instead he was simply shocked to see her, for a moment he watched as Alexis tried to fix her appearance but he was unable to stop the question that fell from his lips. "What are you doing here Alexis?"

Blinking back her surprise at the question Alexis paused from wiping away the mascara from her cheeks to glance up at him. "I heard about Sam and I foolishly thought you might be upset, that you might need me and that for once I might show you that I do care by being here when you need me whether you ask me or not…But considering you seem in fine spirits perhaps I should just get back in my car and…"

Dex's lips cut that statement off before she could finish it and Alexis melted as his strong arms wrapped around her waist pulling her close so she was practically sitting on his lap. Opening her mouth Alexis allowed Dex to control this, everything else had been taken out of his hands today, she could at least give him some semblance of normality even if it was only an illusion.

Breaking the kiss Dex breathed her in, nuzzling his face into the crook of Alexis's neck, feeling her pulse beat steadily against his skin as the tears pricked at his eyes but this time he let them fall, relieved to feel Alexis's grip on him tighten her only response. Finally Dex ran out of tears and he rubbed his sore eyes against the soft silk of her blouse, before he added his voice tellingly rough, "I do need you."

"Then I'll stay." Alexis answered simply running her fingers through Dex's dark hair as he drew strength from her presence, sitting in silence as Dex closed his eyes and tried to focus on Alexis and nothing else. Her scent, the jasmine of her perfume, then the smell of dampness from the rain, the warmth and softness of her body as he held her tightly in his arms and then the way she began to tremble.

Opening his eyes Dex caught sight of the goosebumps that liberally decorated Alexis's fair skin. "Shit you'll catch your death."

"It's only a bit of rain…" Alexis insisted. "Besides you're warming me up."

"I am not having you get sick because of me." Dex snapped reaching for the back seat where an old blanket rested and he tugged it over them both taking care to make sure every inch of Alexis was covered. "There all better."

"Dex Darling not that I don't appreciate it but this blanket stinks of wet horse."

"Actually it's wet horse and wet dog."

Rolling her eyes at his pathological need to be exact all the time Alexis scrunched up her delicate nose, now able to pick out both scents quite clearly. "We could just go inside, take a hot shower, and have some tea that might be the more sensible suggestion."

"I…" Dex trailed off his eyes suddenly flitting away from her gaze as he swallowed and reluctantly admitted. "I don't want to go in there."

"Which explains why you were sitting alone in your car, in the dark and the rain." Alexis added muttering mainly to herself surprised when Dex nodded along. "We could check into a hotel instead?"

"What about Jack?"

"We could take Jack with us?"

Shaking his head Dex realised he was being irrational, it was just a house and he shouldn't leave Marin alone tonight. "No we'll stay…It will be alright as long as you are here, you will stay with me tonight?"

Smiling softly as Dex lifted his pleading dark eyes back to hers Alexis nodded, treasuring the genuinely relieved smile Dex offered her. Leaning down she kissed his lips gently. "I'll stay tonight and for as long as you need me…It was a mistake to let you go Dex and I am finally trying to learn from my mistakes if you'll let me?"

Shaking his head in bemusement Dex couldn't stifle a smile; suddenly things didn't seem too bleak, even the rain was lifting a little. He had lost his last chance to make things right with his father but he hadn't lost Alexis, she had finally made a choice, she had finally put him first and somehow that made the future look a lot brighter.

"Dex?" Alexis prompted chewing her bottom lip nervously when Dex hadn't immediately answered but she was somewhat relieved when he smiled cryptically.

Touched by Alexis's genuine concern that he might actually refuse Dex pulled her closer, his dark gaze now boring into her emeralds as he replied softly, unable to keep the affection for her from his voice. "As if I have ever been able to stop you lady."

Part 3:

He was beautiful, his dark hair just long enough that it swept down over his forehead, a handsome face that would have been dominated by captivating dark eyes if they had not been shut. The almost frown of his scrunched brow as something in his dream affected him and more adorable than anything the little almost pout of his lips as a rasp of a snore whistled past his lips.

God she had missed him terribly, it was all Alexis could do not to wrap her arms around him and cover him in kisses, but that would wake him up and after all the upheaval of the last few days he needed his sleep. She had been so close to loosing all this. Jack and Dex and for what, the uncertainty of a new relationship with Blake…

"Hmmm you know I should have guessed when I rolled over to find an empty bed…"

Dex's sudden voice at her shoulder caused Alexis to start and she practically jumped back into him, her heart still racing as Dex wrapped a strong arm around her waist and Alexis tried to hide the guilty flush that suffused her cheeks. Alexis had made her choice the moment she realised that Dex needed her, how much being a family with him and Jack meant to her; it was time she stopped thinking about Blake Carrington altogether and focused on making the most of her future.

"This is starting to become a pattern Alexis, you leaving my bed for my son."

"Oh shush." Alexis hushed him unable to keep a smile from lighting up her face as Jack wiggled in his sleep his little hands gripping at his blanket. "I just wanted to see him."

"Believe me when he wakes us both up in a few hours you can see as much of him as you want. His morning nappy is all yours." Dex teased rubbing his hand gently down her arm. "In the meantime why don't you give his old man some attention…or at least come back to bed it's late and it will be a long enough day tomorrow."

"In a minute."

Smiling indulgently Dex nodded and joined Alexis in staring down at his sleeping son, no their son. "Thank you."

"Thank me for what?"

"For agreeing to raise him with me." Dex answered honestly. "I don't know how I would have coped these months without you."

"You would have managed somehow but I am glad you didn't have to… I really do love him you know Dex." Alexis whispered softly. "I honestly didn't think I would or could when you first asked me that was why I said no. "

"Alexis…"

"No please let me finish Dex. You have to know it wasn't that I didn't want to have…to raise a child with you, I did…once when we were first married I even thought…" Alexis broke off her voice trembling before she found her courage and forced herself continue. "But it turned out to be nothing, I was just a few days late."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Dex asked honestly shocked by her revelation. "If I had known…we could have at least given it a try Alexis."

"And see how disappointed you would get every month when I wasn't…when we couldn't have a baby? Dex I was forty-five years old, women just don't fall pregnant at the drop of the hat even in their late twenties and thirties. So when I found out Sable was pregnant with your child I was so hurt so angry…It was the one thing I couldn't compete with her over."

Frowning slightly as he caught the catch in her voice Dex turned her round to face him, catching her chin and lifting her gaze to meet his, surprised by the tears he saw glistening there. "Alexis it was never a competition. I love you, only you; there has never been a woman who could come close to you no matter how many children she could give me. There has only ever been you for me. Sable was a mistake, one I can't honestly regret because I would never give up my son; I love him more than I thought it possible, but the two of you are the most important people in my life. As for more children Jack is enough for me, if I can have him and you I will die a happy man!"

"Well just don't do it right now alright." Alexis quipped her smile falling slightly as Dex winced. "Sorry Darling that was rather poor taste."

"You're forgiven on one condition."

"Which is?"

"You leave little Mr Dexter here to get some sleep and come back to bed with me." Dex muttered sliding his hand down her back as he ushered Alexis out of the makeshift nursery and across the corridor to his bedroom. Collapsing back on their bed Dex sighed deeply. "That's better now we can all get some sleep."

Chuckling slightly at the picture Dex made, his hair all mussed like his son's as he stretched out on top of the duvet Alexis bit her lip as her eyes trailed down from Dex's face over his bare torso to the pyjama bottoms that hung low on his hips. Shrugging off her robe Alexis lowered herself into the space beside Dex, smiling as he automatically reached out and pulled her close. Resting her head on his chest Alexis traced the lines of Dex's abdominal muscles with her fingertips.

"Dex?"

"Hmmm…." Dex muttered sleepily as he pulled the covers over them, shifting slightly as Alexis touch tickled him slightly.

"Ah you really sure 'Little Mr Dexter' would rather be sleeping?"

Cracking one eye open Dex stared down at the woman in his arms, his lack of sleep addling his brain, "Wha…" He began, sleep and confusion suddenly fleeing his mind as Alexis's teasing fingers suddenly drifted south under the edge of his pyjama's.

"That is the 'not so little Mr Dexter' I'll have you know Mrs Colby." Dex muttered his forced pique failing as Alexis's fingers closed around him.

"So I see I stand corrected Mr Dexter. Do you think I should offer an apology?"

"That depends?" Dex muttered resisting the urge to groan as Alexis's talented fingers seemingly resurrected the dead. "Would it be a personal apology?" 

"Of course." Alexis teased playing along with Dex's pretence for a little while longer.

"Written or verbal?"

"Oh well I have always been a firm believer that actions speak louder than words." Alexis replied her eyes locked mischievously with Dex who was struggling now and Alexis knew her next words would tip him over the edge, shattering what little restraint remained. "But how about we start with something oral and move on from there?"

Groaning out loud this time Dex's restraint shattered. "Lady you took the words right out of my mouth."

It was no use Krystle couldn't lie here staring at the ceiling willing herself to fall back to sleep, not when her dreams had been troubled in the first place. It had been the nightmare that had first roused her, and Krystle had sat up in bed panting and automatically reaching out for the reassuring presence on her right…

Yet Blake wasn't there, he hadn't shared her bed in weeks and so it took a few moments longer for Krystle to shake off the nightmare. After all when even her dreams were plagued with her real life fears it was a little harder to reassure yourself that is was all just a dream.

Shuddering as the very realistic looking scene of Krystine running to Alexis and asking her to be her Mummy stayed with her Krystle knew she had to do something to get that image from her mind. So she kicked off her covers and dressed for riding. The rain had finally stopped and being summer the sun was rising early, it would be a beautiful day.

Wandering down the corridor Krystle couldn't stop her thoughts from drifting especially as she passed the door to the master bedroom. The urge to check on Blake was strong and it grew stronger the longer Krystle hesitated. He had just seemed so utterly defeated the night before, even spending time with Krystina hadn't been enough to lift him out of his dark mood.

It was all Alexis's fault, sometimes just the thought of that woman made Krystle think unchristian thoughts. Her parents had raised her be forgiving and try and accept the weaknesses and faults in others, to turn the other cheek and not harbour destructive thoughts of anger and revenge. All those poisonous feelings would eventually turn inward and warp even the purest soul, and Krystle had never once really struggled with following that teaching until she had met Alexis.

Oh there had been plenty of people over the years who had hurt her, Nick Toscanni, Claudia, Sarah, Sammy Jo even Mathew Blaisdel and Rita and Joel, yet given time and understanding Krystle had found away to forgive them and move on with her life. Yet Alexis remained, like a cancerous tumour that no amount of aggressive therapy could remove. Alexis spread like a parasite into every corner of your life until it was no longer possible to simply cut her out as the body seemed to become dependant even accepting of her presence even as she sapped the strength.

Alexis was sapping Blake of strength, of joy and happiness. If only Krystle could find someway to reach him, to make him see that given time he would recover without Alexis…

That perhaps without the guilt and pressure of having to make their relationship what it once was over night, perhaps given time Blake could remember just why he had turned to Krystle all those years ago…

Yet as her hand closed on the smooth handle Krystle felt her courage leave her.

Things were precarious enough between them as it was and Blake had barely kept his temper with her last night, if she pushed him now then she would lose him forever. Given time and her reassuring quiet presence in the mansion Krystle was certain Blake would see sense, and they would always have Krystina. Krystina bound them in a way not even Alexis could destroy, so just as Alexis had once delighted in rubbing Krystle's face the bond children could forge between a man and a woman, so Krystle clung to that fragile thread with hope.

"Krystle?"

Startled by the sudden voice Krystle started turning on the spot to gape at an awkward looking Steven who glanced between Krystle and his father's door.

"Steven I didn't see you there…" Krystle answered politely yet she was unable to contain the flush that rushed to her cheeks, as if she were a young child caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "I was just going for a ride would you care to join me?"

Now it was Steven's turn to look embarrassed, shuffling on his feet and Krystle's eyes dropped to the packed suitcase.

"Are you going on a trip?"

"Something like that…I am going to visit a friend in New York, I need some time to clear my head."

Nodding Krystle could understand that, from the little she had managed to overhear she knew Steven had somehow been involved in this mess with Denver Carrington, yet she found it difficult to believe that Steven had really deliberately sabotaged anything. It all had to be a terrible misunderstanding that given time and space could be resolved.

"When will you be back? I don't mean to pry but are you taking Danny, if it is only going to be for a few days then why don't you leave him with me, he really shouldn't miss school Steven."

"Actually I don't know how long." Steven admitted unable to meet Krystle's surprised gaze. "I just can't stay here any longer Krystle, I can't sit opposite Dad at breakfast or dinner after what I did…"

"But what about Danny, are you taking him with you? Do you even have a place to stay? Steven New York is no place for a little boy…"

"I am taking him to Colby Acres." Steven admitted his awkwardness only increasing. "I know you would take good care of him but Fallon is there with LB and Lauren and Danny and LB go to the same school and…"

"And Alexis would no doubt object to my raising her grandson." Krystle muttered unable to keep the bite from her tone.

"She is his grandmother, she loves him and he adores her." Steven added unable to keep his own tone even, regretting it slightly when Krystle seemed hurt by his harsh words. "I'm sorry Krystle I know the two of you have never gotten on but she is my mother and I love her…"

"Steven please don't you think you are being a little hasty?" 

"I have made up my mind Krystle." 

Sighing Krystle could see the same stubbornness in Steven as in his father, there was a certain way they both set their jaw as if refusing to be moved, yet Krystle had not spent years married to Blake Carrington to not learn a way to diffuse that determination. "I am not trying to argue with you Steven, but please don't just slip away, stay a few hours longer…Try to talk to Blake, don't leave things so unsettled between the two of you, for your own peace of mind if nothing else. After all what more harm could it do?"

Part 4:

It wasn't for any reason other than force of habit that Blake rose at seven like he always did. He was practically through his morning routine and it was only when he was rummaging in his extensive closet, his hand closing on a rather dapper dark grey Armani that he suddenly stopped, the realisation striking his brain like a bolt of lightening that he had nowhere to wear it to.

He was unemployed, practically for the first time in his life Blake Carrington had no work that demanded his attention, no office to hurry off to. For many an enforced retirement might have been a liberating experience yet for Blake it was stifling, it made him feel half the man he had been the day before. Old men retired. Men who had nothing better to do than play golf or slowly go senile. Blake had seen what happened to those men, and it was no wonder that with his old friend's death weighing heavily on his mind Blake's thoughts were dominated by fears about his own mortality.

Who would want to be saddled with an old man, certainly not the beautiful vibrant Alexis Colby?

Back when he had first married Alexis Blake had only on occasion been aware of the twelve year age difference between them, normally because Alexis was acting childish over something or other and Blake had wondered at his decision marrying a mere girl no matter how much he loved her. Yet now the shoe was most definitely on the other foot and it was not Alexis's youth but his dotage that was the problem.

Was it any wonder Alexis didn't want him?

Putting the suit back in the closet Blake selected a pair of slacks, a shirt and one of his favourite jumpers, dressing quickly he didn't even bother to check his appearance in the mirror before he headed down for breakfast. He wasn't going to wallow in his room, sooner or later Blake knew he had to face facts; he had to face his family and endure their hesitancy and pitying glances. Yet Blake had to admit if only to himself he was relieved when on entering the dining room he found only Jeff tucking into his breakfast.

"Morning Jeff." Blake forced a jovial tone to his greeting yet he was unable to completely contain his surprise at seeing Jeff suited and booted as if it were any other day. "Are you off somewhere important?"

"Morning Blake." Jeff replied evenly yet Blake could tell from the way Jeff shifted awkwardly there was something bothering him.

"Actually I am heading into Denver Carrington this morning." Jeff reluctantly admitted his handsome face flushing slightly as he caught Blake's bemused expression. "I had an early call from Alexis asking me if I would man the helm at Denver Carrington for her…Just until the next board meeting when they can officially sort out the new CEO…And since I am a major shareholder and already involved in the day to day running of the company and Alexis is herself out of town…"

"Alexis isn't in Denver?"

"Apparently not."

"But where is she?" Blake demanded unable to curtail his curiosity not caring that Jeff seemed to be growing more uncomfortable by the second.

"She didn't say." 

"But that's ridiculous, she needs to be here what will happen to Denver Carrington? Surely she must have given you some indication of how long her trip will take, of when she would be back?"

Shrugging Jeff stared down into his coffee cup avoiding Blake's piercing gaze. "She didn't…honestly things were a bit rushed and we really only talked about the interim arrangements at Denver Carrington…Perhaps Fallon might know more?" Jeff added glancing at his watch. "Oh look at the time I really should be going…"

Sighing Blake realised he was driving Jeff away with his obsessive questioning and as one of his few remaining allies that was rather foolish even for him. "I'm sorry Jeff I guess when it comes to Denver Carrington I am still a little protective, I almost dressed for the office this morning…I think this new arrangement is going to take a little time to get used to for all of us, but especially this old codger."

Smiling Jeff paused and reached out to pat Blake's shoulder familiarly. "Don't worry Blake I promise to take good care of her for you."

Touched by the gesture and the heartfelt words Blake returned Jeff's smile, reaching up to cover his son-in-law's hand with his own. "Thank you Jeff. At least I can be grateful for that and for you…You don't know how it warms my heart to know I at least have one son I can rely on. You've been my good right arm for years now and there is no one else I would truly trust to step into my shoes."

"Thank you Blake…Father." Jeff added softly as he swallowed down the unaccustomed expression of emotion meeting Blake's gaze, neither men noticing the shadow in the doorway move away, their silent eavesdropper vanishing from sight before Jeff exited the dining room. Yet their conversation had been overheard and silent onlookers fists were clenched as they strode off in the other direction thoughts pounding and colliding in their head that perhaps it was time perfect Jeff Colby learnt what it was really like to be a Carrington son.

Alexis had to admit it was a nicer house than she had been expecting, true her expectations were logs for walls, animal skin rugs and moose heads on the walls. When in truth the Dexter homestead was a much larger and grander affair, it had clearly been in the family for the last hundred years, the colonial style of a long front porch dominating the frontage. In some ways the décor looked liked that was also a hundred years old and there were far too many pictures of horses for her tastes but the rooms were big and airy and filled with light. It was a pleasant wealthy family home and the views of rolling countryside more than made up for any shortcomings.

Arriving late at night Alexis had barely glanced round the house and now with little else to occupy herself as Dex had headed into town to start making arrangements for his father's funeral Alexis decided to amuse herself by taking herself and Jack on a tour of the downstairs. She wandered from sitting room to billiard room, taking a brief trip through the kitchen much to the confusion of the housekeeper to whom Alexis didn't bother to introduce herself, staff were still staff after all, even if they were someone elses.

Finally she ended up in a small salon towards the back of the house which seemed even more dated than any other and Alexis was about to dismiss it and move on to the others when the glint of sunlight off of glass caught her attention. Then stepping further into the room she saw them, photographs lined almost every surface, the mantelpiece over the fireplace, the bureaus, the little side tables. Photographs of the Dexter family but more importantly and amusingly of Dex.

Dex as a toddler with a birthday cake smeared over his chubby face, Dex on a pony with Sam holding the lead rein. Dex dressed up from some family wedding, scowling adorably at the camera as he tugged on the black bowtie round his neck and most amusingly a picture of Dex in his birthday suit on a fluffy rug smiling gumily up at the camera.

"Well nice to know those dimples have always been there." Alexis mused before reaching out and picking up another picture of Dex with his father. "And this was your grandfather Jack." Alexis added softly showing the photograph to the baby who slapped his slightly wet and sticky fingers against the glass giggling as it made a slapping noise.

"Honestly Jack that is no way to behave…" Alexis tutted but then one glance at the faded little room and the telltale signs of dust where items had just been left to sit for years she realised there was little chance of anyone even noticing the dribble strains let alone caring.

"What a sad little room." Alexis couldn't help but comment. It felt abandoned and unloved much like most of the Dexter family from the little she had prised from Dex over the years. Setting the photograph back down in its place Alexis turned to leave her eyes lingering slightly on the happy smiling faces, of a younger happier Sam Dexter that Alexis barely recognised.

"Such a shame…You'll never get the chance to know him…"

"And whose fault is that? Perhaps if you didn't keep my brother on such a tight leash, shutting off all the blood to his brain, then perhaps he might have found the time and the backbone to visit with Jack whilst his father was still alive."

Whirling round Alexis was startled by the sudden vitriol. Standing in the doorway was Marin Dexter, or at least Alexis assumed that was who it must be, they had never met in person and all she had to go on was Dex's less than favourable reports about his wild and reckless sister.

"You must be Marin…"

"Yes and you must be the legendary witch that is Alexis Colby." Marin retorted mocking Alexis's clipped accent, whilst her dark eyes, so similar to her brother's locked on her 'guest'. "Tell me do you make it a habit to invite yourself into other people's homes and then go snooping through their personal possessions or are you making a special effort in our case?"

"Well I…" Alexis stuttered slightly wrong footed by the sudden attack, and all before her second cup of coffee. "Dex asked me to stay, he needs support from someone after all." She added a moment later when the shock had worn off.

Snorting Marin scrunched up her delicate nose as disgusted. "Dex needing support, oh that is rich, he is only back for the money and the business, and as for you he probably has you going around the house deciding what else the two of you can get your grubby little paws on. Well this is my home and you are never going to take it away from me, never!"

"You forgot to stamp you foot my dear." Alexis added patronisingly relishing the way Marin flushed slightly at her taunt. "Tell me do you normally greet all of your houseguests this way, a little routine you practice in front of the mirror, or have you made a special effort in my case?"

"Get out."

"Of where, this room or the entire house?" Alexis mocked before turning to jiggle a fidgety Jack. "Believe me I would be delighted to do either but since Dex has entrusted Jack into my care, where I go he goes and I would hate for you to have to explain to your big brother why you threw his son out of what isn't legally your house…"

"Not yet it isn't but it will be. So don't get any ideas."

"Oh I wouldn't want this place." Alexis sneered. "You never did visit Dex in Denver Marin, such a shame for you because if you had you wouldn't embarrass yourself by even thinking I would covet this house. Oh it has its charms if you love living in a period piece with little in the way of modern comfort…"

"Just get out of my way…of this room…this was my mother's sitting room and I don't want you contaminating it further." Marin spat glowering at Alexis like she would love nothing better than to physically remove.

"With pleasure I had finished here." Alexis replied sweetly striding to the door where Marin had to step aside to let her pass. "Oh and Marin just a word of advice from an actual homeowner, I suggest you sack you housemaid, the dust in there is enough to choke a cat, I would hate to think what you poor mother would think of you letting it go to rack and ruin like that."

Watching as Alexis strode off down the hall Marin could only mutter spitefully. "As long as it was enough to choke you." And even as Alexis disappeared from view her blood continued to boil.

How dare that woman of all women come into her home and now of all times when the grief of her father's death was so raw?

Surely it was no coincidence that Dex had waited until after their father's death to invite his whore to visit and Marin didn't buy that bullshit about not wanting the homestead, the land alone was worth millions. No Alexis Colby was up to something, why else would she be touring the house, even visiting the kitchens?

When Constance their old housekeeper had come bounding up to her room to tell her about this strange woman wandering about the house with Master Jack, Marin had convinced herself the old woman must have been seeing things. Yet now she was glad she had taken heed of the housekeeper's warning and had come down to catch Alexis in the act.

Well there was more than one way to deal with Alexis Colby…And if she could drive her out of the house then surely Dex would follow?

Possession was nine tenths of the law and even if her daddy left the property to both her and Dex then she would need to make Alexis want to leave. That would take more than a few tense words, Alexis even from their short exchange was not a woman made uncomfortable by hostility so what did make her uncomfortable or was it more a question of who?

Smirking smugly as the perfect solution came to mind Marin once again thanked her lucky stars and her father for keeping her up to date with all the scandal from Denver. After all it would only be natural that as one of her father's oldest friends he was invited personally, and considering there was no hotel in the nearest town it would only be polite that the Dexter's of Wyoming offer a room in their considerable homestead.

Then perhaps Blake Carrington could achieve what direct confrontation could not, perhaps he could drive out the infestation that was Alexis Colby?

Part 5:

Today he was burying his father and as Dex stared out of window at the bright sunshine, the temperature already skyrocketing he wondered why the damn weather couldn't seem to make its mind up these days. One day torrential rain the next bright sunshine which was completely at odds with the solemn occasion; today promised to be a scorcher, the type of day to spend lolling on some beach or by a pool and not fitting for a funeral. It just felt a poor fit as poor a fit as his new black suit. Dex gazed at his dim reflection in the bedroom windows, his handsome face contorted in a frown as he tugged at his necktie unable to resist fiddling with it some more as something about his appearance just didn't seem right.

"Dex Darling you are worse than your son." Alexis tutted as she shut their bedroom door behind her, choosing to ignore Dex's scowl or muttered complaint as she crossed the room and batted his hands away from his tie. With a few tweaks it was perfect and Alexis smoothed down the lapels of Dex's suit. There was nothing wrong with his suit or tie but Dex was a man who needed to feel in control and what would happen today was about as out of control as anything could become; so Dex was seizing what little control he had, even if it was over something has minute as the knot of his tie.

"There perfect…You look very handsome Dex, not as handsome as Jack but then he let me pick his outfit." Alexis teased relieved when the corner of Dex's mouth lifted slightly.

"Where is he?"

"Oh I left him in his crib all dressed and ready to go when you are…"

"Good." Dex grunted his eyes drifting once more to the window and a scowl appeared on his brow as he glared at the perfect weather. A scowl that turned to surprise as Alexis stood up on tiptoe and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "What was that for?"

"You looked like you needed it Darling." Alexis answered softly, relieved when Dex stopped scowling out the window and turned back to her, his strong hands spanning her slender waist.

"I guess I did." Dex muttered his dark eyes taking in Alexis's elegant black Chanel suit, the tailored lapels edged with white as a contrast then as if by their own accord his hands dropped to cup the curve of her backside through the snug pencil skirt that had managed to catch his attention a couple of times that morning. "You know if you wanted to distract me - take my mind off of things a little more…"

Alexis couldn't help but roll her eyes as Dex leant down and pressed a kiss to her neck. It was typical of Dex when things became emotional complex sex seemed to be his standard outlet not that Alexis objected on most occasions but this was not one of them. "Honestly Dex you'll upset my hat."

"And we can't have that." Dex mumbled sarcastically, sighing as he rested his forehead against Alexis's shoulder, his irritation lifting slightly as he felt Alexis's fingers rake soothingly through his hair.

"Thank you for putting up with me…For being here…I know I haven't been the easiest person to live with the last few days but I don't know how I would get through today without you here Alexis."

"Well since I am here there is no point worrying about what if's." Alexis replied gently but firmly. "Now I hate to bring this up but we really should be going, god knows how much drool Jack will get on his shirt if we leave him much longer…Why he should pick now of all times to start teething."

Nodding Dex reluctantly lifted his head and let his hands drop; it was time to get this over with, to finally get some closure. "Alright, let's get this over with."

"Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust."

Alexis knew she should be concentrating on what the Reverend was saying but had to confess her concentration was wandering and it wasn't as though she hadn't heard all of this before in any case, nor did she had any lingering respect for man about to be committed to the ground. It was a little hard to even fake distress at his passing. Sam Dexter had been opposed to her relationship with Dex since the beginning, he had interfered in her marriage to Blake, had accused her of terrible things over the years and in the last few months of his life he had even held her at gun point. So Alexis didn't feel even slightly guilty about holding feelings of relief the old man had finally made his journey to the big beyond, it had taken long enough.

Still even so appearances needed to be kept up and even if the only reason she was really here was to support Dex that was no excuse to be caught daydreaming, not even if there was a very good reason for her distraction. So it was somewhat of a relief when Jack began to fuss in Dex's arms and so Dex handed him over. At least tending to a fussy Jack demanded her full attention and Alexis couldn't help but sigh in relief that at least now she wouldn't be caught staring, especially not staring at him...

Blake was here.

He was standing quietly and calmly on the opposite side of the open grave amongst some of the old friends, his distinguished cap of silver hair quite clearly visible as the sun gleamed off of it causing it stand out amongst all the dark colours. Not that Blake didn't always stand out in a crowd, his handsome face was the picture of composure as he seemingly didn't share Alexis's inability to concentrate.

Holding Jack's teething ring Alexis scrutinised Blake closely from under her lashes, he truly seemed intent on the ceremony. He hadn't to her knowledge even glanced in her direction once, it was almost like he hadn't noticed her, or if he had it didn't affect him the way his sudden arrival had her and Alexis's stomach twisted with an unnamed feeling. After all it wasn't like she could actually be disappointed that Blake wasn't as preoccupied with her presence as she seemed to be with his. Obviously he must have known or at least suspected she would be here and Alexis could put her own unsettled feelings down that his arrival had been so sudden and unexpected.

There couldn't be any other reasonable explanation…

Suddenly as if able to feel the weight of her gaze Blake's eyes snapped up and flickered across, their gazes meeting for the first time across the grave. Stifling a gasp Alexis felt Blake's eyes burn into her, his expression remained composed but his dark eyes were burning embers and Alexis couldn't help the flush that crept on to her cheek. Swallowing nervously Alexis was ashamed to admit she was the first to look away, guilt quickly taking the place of the excited flutterings as Dex's hand found hers and he squeezed it tightly as though she were his lifeline.

Squeezing Dex's fingers back Alexis could feel the tremors that Dex was trying so hard to suppress, and her guilt only doubled till she could actually taste bile in her mouth. Dex needed her and at his father's funeral it was thoughts of Blake that were dominating her mind, if any further proof was needed of how twisted her relationship with Blake had become then there is was.

Forcibly pushing Blake from her mind Alexis wrapped her arm around Dex allowing him to pull her and Jack close as he clung to her like a rock, refusing to break down in front of all these people who were now more strangers than friends or family. Yet even as she buried her head into Dex's shoulder and breathed in the spicy natural scent that clung to his shirt Alexis couldn't pretend she couldn't still feel Blake's gaze burning into her and that it was that and not the heat of the day that put the colour into her cheeks.

Holding the small sherry glass in his hand as he paced the terrace Blake wondered just how much wishing it would take for the earth to actually open up and swallow him whole?

Alexis was here, not just at the funeral, but here in this house, staying in this house with Dexter and his son, the very same house that Marin Dexter had invited him to stay the night in.

The irony of the situation was certainly not lost on Blake but he was far from amused by it, just as he had not been amused by Marin's other little stunt. Honestly Blake had been considering paying his respects at the wake and then as soon as it was polite vanishing and finding a car that would take him back to the airport tonight, even if it meant hanging around for a flight Blake considered that preferable to having to watch Alexis and Dex together.

The opportunity had finally presented itself and Blake watched Alexis head off to put Jack down for his afternoon nap before heading over to talk to the Dexter siblings unsure just what sort of a greeting he could expect from Dex considering their last exchange had ended with Blake flat on his back with a split lip.

"_Dex…Marin I would just like to say how sorry I am for your loss. Sam was a wonderful friend and despite our few disagreements he always had my respect."_

"_Thank you Blake." Dex's greeting was short and to the point yet considering it wasn't followed by a sharp right hook Blake considered it a success._

_Shifting uncomfortably Blake nodded before turning to Marin who at least smiled at him. "I have many wonderful memories of you father young lady, especially from when we were both young, I know you've probably heard many of them from your father but if one day you want to talk to me about him I would be honoured to tell you whatever I can."_

"_Perhaps you can share some tonight over dinner." Marin exclaimed her dark eyes bright with what looked suspiciously like mischief as she glanced first at her brother and then rather smugly over Blake's shoulder._

"_Perhaps you can also contribute Alexis you were there back in the good ole days as well weren't you?"_

"_I…" Alexis seemed to falter her eyes flickering over to him and quickly away again as if embarrassed by his presence._

_Dex however wasn't stuck as equally dumb and he turned to glare at his sister. "What dinner?"_

"_Just an intimate little dinner for a few of father's closest friends and acquaintances oh and you and Alexis are invited as well." Marin retorted smugly before turning to Blake. "I mean it would hardly be right inviting you stay and then not feeding you."_

"_Marin…" Dex all but growled drawing the attention of a few guests who had been standing close by, clearly eavesdropping on the potentially explosive mix._

"_Honestly Dex you are causing a scene, isn't it a fitting gesture to celebrate our father's life?" Marin added lifting her dark eyes up innocently, her act failing spectacularly as Alexis chose to leave and Marin could barely contain her glee. _

"_Dex if it is a problem then I am happy to return to Denver tonight…"_

"_No absolutely not." Marin exclaimed. "It is all arranged, this is still as much my house as it is yours Dex and I think it would be a fitting gesture."_

There had been little Dex had been able to argue to that and he had stormed off to try and find Alexis leaving Blake feel doubly awkward and used and yet if he were honest at least with himself he had little desire to leave. To leave now would be like giving up all hope of a reconciliation with Alexis, perhaps Blake could use this situation to prove to her that he could show consideration and restrain, that she could trust him not to betray their secrets…

That was if Alexis could even be convinced to stay in the same room as him longer than a few seconds without needed to runaway?

Sighing Blake took a sip of the sweet sherry letting his feet draw him away from the gathering and the prying eyes and ears of the other guests finding a quiet bench in a corner of the garden not overlooked from the house. Closing his eyes Blake tried to gather his composure, putting aside his own tumultuous feelings when the scent of cigarette smoke caught his nose and he tensed.

"I see you found my little hiding place." A familiar voice muttered and it took all of Blake's will power not to turn and face her.

"I honestly didn't come looking for you Alexis, I just needed to escape myself. If you would prefer that I leave you in peace?"

For a long moment Alexis didn't answer and Blake felt disappointment well up inside him as he stood to leave.

"You don't need to go, I mean I am just as much an intruder here as you are."

Snorting in amusement at Alexis's bitter tone Blake couldn't resist commenting. "Ah yes did I pick up a little hostility between you and Marin?"

"Hostility." Alexis hissed. "The little witch has all but declared war, she has some ridiculous idea that I am out to steal her inheritance from under her nose, as if I would need such a paltry sum." She scoffed and Blake nodded in agreement.

"I am sorry you seem to have been dragged into this Blake." Alexis added softly almost wistfully and now Blake really had to fight not to react, to resist the impulse that screamed at him to hold her and comfort her, but another part of him retained control of those impulses knowing it would only drive her further away.

Swallowing nervously Blake knew he only had one option if he wanted to make any progress. "If you would like me to leave, then regardless of Marin's plans or schemes I will abide by your choice, I didn't come here to create difficulties for you Alexis. One word from you and I will make my excuses, I know how much I have already hurt you and the idea of being the cause of further pain…"

"You can stay Blake." Alexis answered softly causing Blake to splutter in surprise especially as she stepped out of the shadows stubbing out her cigarette before throwing the butt into the gardens.

Staring up at a calm and composed Alexis Blake could only shake his head in surprise. "Wha.."

"It would only look suspicious if you left don't you think?" Alexis added her emerald eyes glinting with suppressed humour as Blake continued to stare up at her dumbfounded. "Besides I think this is only the tip of the iceberg where Marin is concerned and the more allies, even tenuous ones the better don't you think?"

Nodding as he didn't trust his voice Blake was pleased when Alexis favoured him with a small smile, dipping her head as she gazed up at him through her lashes. "Well then Mr Carrington I suppose I will see you at dinner."

Part 6:

It was an elegant room even if it did look as though it had barely left the last century. The long highly polished oak table reflected the light from the two large silver candelabra that were the only source of light in the room, and little prisms glinted off of the walls and ceilings as the silver cutlery and crystal glasses seemed to glow in the candlelight's embrace. The two large French doors that opened out onto the garden terrace were flung wide open, the night's air still too warm for them to be closed and so the scent of roses and wild honeysuckle trickled in on the evening breeze.

If it wasn't for the occasion and certain members of the company Blake mused it could have been an enchanting evening. As it was there atmosphere was charged as the doors to the salon opened and the guests trickled in to take their seats; each place at the table clearly marked by a neat calligraphy hand with the heads of the table left unlaid as a clear mark of respect for the recently deceased patriarch of the Dexter clan.

Scanning his dark eyes down the table for his own name Blake tensed as he caught sight of it tucked one in from the end on the left, yet it was the name of the person sitting to his left that really caught his eye and Blake wasn't honestly sure whether he should curse or thank Marin. Clearly she was intent on causing trouble and from the way Dex's jaw clenched, as he caught sight of his sisters placings as he took his seat on the opposite side two further places down from Alexis and Blake, there would clearly be hell to pay later.

Waiting as Alexis came to stand hesitantly beside him Blake smiled politely but distantly pulling back her chair; taking the rare moment to admire the simple navy one shouldered silk dress that was both elegant and modest as the occasion demanded and to guiltily breath in the scent of her perfume that was just as enchanting as the scents from the garden.

"Thank you Blake."

Nodding his acknowledgement Blake glanced across the table to ascertain just who else they had been partnered with and if it hadn't been the fact that he knew his presence at this end of the table was to needle Alexis, Blake might have wondered just what he had personally down to offend Marin Dexter. Directly opposite Alexis at the other edge of the table was the good Reverend Michaels a man who was as good as he was deathly dull. Of his place in heaven Blake was sure the Reverend was assured although he could only wonder about that of his parishioners considering how many church sermons they must fall asleep in.

However opposite Blake himself was a fate far worse than even the dull Reverend, Great Aunt Josephine Dexter, was actually nearer a great great great aunt by now and she had to be a hundred at least. Not that it was easy to tell as Blake was convinced the woman had always looked this wizened in the forty odd years that even he had known her. She certainly still had the same look of general contempt for everyone that she met, staring down her long nose and out the antique spectacles that perched on the very end. Not Blake couldn't image that she could actually see anything through those cloudy old things but that she just enjoyed the excuse to look down on people.

She was giving him that look now and it took Blake back to the summer he had spent working in Wyoming right after they had returned from the war. The Dexter and Carrington families had become friends through Tom and Farnsworth Dexter, both ambitious men who clashed in business, Farnsworth coming from a long line of wealthy landowners whereas Tom had married into money. Nonetheless they both had sons that defied their fathers to join the call for soldiers for WW2, yet of the two Blake had been the only one to actually see action as Sam's engineering skills had been in high demand and he had remained stationed back in the works. However being in the same company the two young men had seen quite a lot of each other and it laid the foundations for a friendship that had lasted nearly fifty years.

"You're that Carrington boy!"

And in that moment as Sam's Great Aunt glared down her nose her blue eyes locked disapprovingly on him Blake did feel very much like that Carrington boy again.

"Ummm Miss Josephine it is a pleasure to see you again…You've hardly changed." That at least wasn't a lie as she truly did still look as wizened and bitter now as she had forty-five years ago.

"Hmmm don't try any of that fancy Colorado flattery on me Carrington, I remember you alright Tom Carrington's boy, my that old man of yours was an ambitious son of Job, had the nerve to try and court me once but I quickly sent him packing. Then he ended with old man Montague's only daughter." Miss Josephine added with a harrumph as if laying all of Tom's sins of ambition and social climbing about Blake's shoulders. "How is your father?"

"He died a few years ago." Blake answered simply refusing to comment further. The memory of his father's death was one that still needled him, it being a time of important closure and yet tinged with a sense of loss not only for the man but also the for the relationship that never lived up to the promise of what could have been.

"Well it happens to us all eventually, although those that live a sinful existence normally pay for it for being called before their time, don't you agree Reverend?" Miss Josephine muttered turning to address the Good Reverend Michaels who honestly looked more interested in the newly filled contents of his wine glass than discussing the values of modest living.

"Oh indeed why I…"

"Look at me next year I will be ninety five and I am I can still walk the same distance I did as a girl, I still get up at five in the morning to look after my chickens, and I go to bed sober knowing that I have done my duty. Drink is the corrupter of men and the bringing low of women, I think you can tell an awful lot about the strength of a man's character by whether or not he drinks." Miss Josephine pontificated cutting off the good reverend who look momentarily surprised at the unaccustomed interruption before gazing in disappointment at his wine glass.

Smiling tightly Blake reached for his own glass and took a measured sip despite the blatant disapproval of the old woman across from him.

"Not an teetotalist then I see." Miss Josephine sniffed her beady eyes flickering across to where a serene Alexis was taking their exchange with barely concealed amusement. "And this I suppose is your wife, hmm a little flashy but I suppose that would fit with your style."

"We're not…"

"Oh Alexis and I aren't married…" Blake and Alexis countered at the same time.

"So you're living in sin." Aunt Josephine huffed clearly scandalised refusing to listen to Blake's explanations or Alexis's choked protests. "I don't know why I expected any better you always were on the wild side, my poor brother never did live down the scandal of you boys and your wild parties not to mention drinking in a public park and skinny dipping when gentle ladies might have stumbled across you by accident."

"Blake skinny dipping?" Alexis snorted stifling her amusement behind her napkin as Miss Josephine's disapproving gaze bore into her next, a fallen woman.

"It was not a laughing matter, if it hadn't been for my dear brother bailing them all out the local Sheriff would have had them all in irons doing hard labour and that would have taught them their lesson I warrant…And then there was that business with some girl…Not that anything was ever proved of course." Aunt Josephine tutted waving her hand in a dismissive gesture.

Fortunately at that moment the first course was served and after squinting at her soup as though there might be something untoward lurking in it Great Aunt Josephine settled down to slurp it from her spoon finally allowing a much needed peace to settle on their end of the table and Blake seized the opportunity to change the subject.

"Tell me Reverend has the weather been as changeable down here as it has been in Colorado, one moment torrential rain and in July, the next scorching temperatures?"

"Well yes it has been a little changeable my poor vegetables haven't known what's hit them and I am a little worried all that rain has destroyed my prize winning pumpkin patch, I enter them in the state competition but this year…" The Reverend trailed off mournfully his eyes once more flickering to his wine, and he sighed as it seemed even that consolation was out of his grasp.

Fortunately for Blake the subject of gardening was one that Aunt Josephine enjoyed lecturing on even more than haranguing him and after finishing another slurped spoonful of soup she turned to give the poor Reverend the benefit of her many years of experience.

Glancing along the table it didn't take a sensitive soul to catch the concerned glances and spot the permanent scowl that seemed to have etched itself on to Dexter's forehead, yet it seemed conversation with the family lawyer was keeping the hot-headed younger man from leaping out of his seat. Taking a spoonful of his own soup Blake risked a glance to his left, a move not missed by Alexis whose own eyes flickered up, her emeralds twinkling with barely contained mirth.

"Skinny dipping?" Alexis mouthed unable to contain her grin as Blake rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"You are never going to let that go are you?" Blake muttered in a low voice unable to contain the sudden flicker of pleasure as Alexis leant closer a half smile tugging at her lips as she whispered back.

"Not until I get an explanation."

Sighing as he realised he wasn't going to escape that one Blake finally conceded. "It was hot, we'd been working, we were all dirty and wanted to head into town for a beer after the shift but we knew they would never let us in like that…So a quick swim to cool down and clean up seemed sensible at the time, it wasn't like we knew the Episcopalian Church's annual picnic was being held the other side of the bushes."

"And the wild parties?"

"Were just parties, nothing so scandalous I assure you. Now would you please drop it I would rather not have my every youthful folly dragged out for public examination?"

"And miss hearing more about your wild youth." Alexis drawled sarcastically unable to resist needling Blake further especially as the old woman seemed to really get under his skin. "Of course if the conversation does lull I suppose I can always ask Aunt Josephine to fill me in…"

"Don't you dare even think about it…" Blake all but growled back yet from the daring glint in Alexis's eyes Blake could help but worry that was exactly what she had in mind.

The meal had been frankly rather dull, well apart from those few moments of excitement when that old woman had taken it upon herself to needle Blake, but after that had died down there had been little but the rather uninspiring food to focus on. The only discernable consolation was the surprisingly excellent wine and perhaps it was to deliberately spite the disapproving old woman opposite but Alexis found herself drinking a little more heavily than usual. There was just something about the superior attitude and less than subtle tuts that reminded Alexis rather strongly of her own mother and Alexis was certain that if they could possibly conquer the insurmountable divide that naturally sprang up between American and British women of a certain age then Josephine Dexter and Elizabeth Morel would be the best of friends, when they weren't trying to out pontificate the other.

Blake had been a surprisingly uncomplicated dinner companion and Alexis could only breath a sigh of relief that at least in this Blake was keeping his word. It seemed he really was doing his best to give her the freedom and space that she had asked for no matter how sometimes his eyes screamed out just how much of a struggle that was for him. His restraint made Alexis's life a lot easier and finally towards the end of the meal she felt herself relax. From the barely restrained scowls that Marin had been sending down the table at them it seemed the little witch had realised her plan had backfired and that gave Alexis not a small measure of satisfaction.

Of course she should have known that was too good to be true.

"Of course the bible is very clear on divorce and as Minister I cannot possible condone it…Although as a man I can understand in certain extenuating circumstances…"

"Well I don't agree, a marriage is for life you make vows before god and for better or for worse you are bound to keep them. If you can't manage to keep them then you are better off remaining unmarried and not like this young people of today falling out of one marriage and into another, I can't understand how those sort of people can sleep at night…"

"Well why don't you ask Alexis she is an expert by now." Marin's sharp little voice suddenly spoke up. "How many times is it now, four?" She added ignoring her brother's growls.

"Marin that's enough…"

"Oh no silly I forgot only two were divorces, the other two died on you didn't they." Marin added before suddenly breaking off laughing. "Oh my I just realised both of your ex-husbands are at the table, is that some sort of a record do you suppose?"

"Marin that is enough." Dex snapped slamming his napkin down. "You are embarrassing yourself."

"Oh not myself brother dear, I think of all the embarrassments to the Dexter name you clearly come top there, I mean bringing that woman here to our home, if father was still here he would never have stood for it."

"Well father isn't here and now I am head of this family and I am saying enough." Dex retorted his dark eyes narrowing on his sister. "I have allowed you little digs to slide because I wanted to avoid a scene but now you've gone too far. Don't cross me further on this Marin, believe me you wouldn't care for the consequences."

"Oh what are you going to do Dex, send me to my room without supper or perhaps cut off my allowance? Sorry to disappoint big brother but I think you going to find the shoe is on the other foot from now on." Marin replied smugly. "In fact why bother to wait any longer, let's get this over with, forget doing it tomorrow morning lets do it tonight."

Frowning in confusion Dex glanced between his sister and the man he had been talking to most of the evening. "Do what?"

Sitting back in her chair as if she was a queen lounging on her throne Marin Dexter's smile only grew in size. "Why read Daddy's will of course."


	3. Episode 3: Inheritance

Episode 3: Inheritance

Part1:

The sound of the cars passing on the freeway was like a constant drone, even this early in the morning people were up and about, lorries heading down the interstate trying to avoid the morning rush hour; people going about their daily lives unaffected whilst most still slept soundly in their beds.

Yet Dex couldn't sleep.

He hadn't slept and it wasn't like he could blame that on the noise from the road or the uncomfortably lumpy motel mattress, after all Alexis was suffering alongside him yet despite this she was exhausted enough to sleep.

Turning over gently so as not to wake her Dex studied Alexis as she slept, her fingers held the edge of the sheet tightly and her normally serene brow was scrunched. Clearly her dreams were less than peaceful and Dex couldn't help but wonder if they included him, if Alexis was reliving the night before?

He only hoped for her sake that she wasn't, going through that ordeal once was bad enough…

"_Tonight? Marin we only just buried our father don't you think we should show a little more respect…"_

"_Like you know the first thing about respecting his memory." Marin spat back her dark eyes raking over Dex before lingering deliberately on Alexis, yet for once she held back, perhaps it was the presence of the good Reverend Michaels or more likely the disapproving scowl of Great Aunt Josephine. _

"_I am Daddy's executer and we have the will and Mr Harris and all necessary parties so why not hold it tonight and get it over with, it saves everyone having to come back in the morning. We can get it over and done with whilst we have our coffee." Marin added standing up from the table to stalk back into the salon._

_Reluctantly the rest of the party followed her a few moments later, Dex lingered at the doorway waiting for Alexis grasping her hand when she offered it, drawing support from her silent presence by his side. Dex dreaded stepping into that room; he had no real interest in listening to his father's last will and testament as judging by the smirk on Marin's face there had to be something explosive. However there was no real way to avoid this, not now, Marin had effective trapped them all here._

_It was only the gentle squeezing of his hand by Alexis that made him take that final step into the salon, shutting the door behind them, but Dex preferred to remain standing. If things became ugly he wanted to be able to leave quickly and to take Alexis with him, he could cope with anything that would be thrown his way but if there was any attack on Alexis…_

"_It will be all over soon Dex." Alexis whispered softly leaning against Dex's side, wrapping her arm around his waist as Dex slipped his own about her shoulders drawing her close for comfort as Mr Harris his father's lawyer opened a sealed envelope._

"_I know." Dex whispered softly back pressing his lips to her forehead, avoiding the look of disgust from his sister and disapproval from his Great Aunt._

_He had Alexis Dex didn't need their approval; it wouldn't take much incentive for him to leave Wyoming for good. He knew in this Alexis would stand by him, but the supportive and concerned half smile that Blake Carrington of all people sent his way, that was the greatest surprise of all._

"_Well let's get this over with." Mr Harris his father's old lawyer muttered his blue eyes drawn together under his glasses as he pulled out the document. Clearly he was as thrilled about this sudden change of plans as Dex; yet since he had the necessary documents to hand Dex had to wonder if he had been involved in Marin's plan._

"_I Samuel Dexter being of sound mind and body do hereby make my last will and testament." Mr Harris read aloud before pausing his eyes flickering up meeting Dex's for a moment and Dex tensed at the almost regretful look in them; it was enough of a warning._

"_I leave the Dexter homestead, land, property and contents along with my personal fortune in land and savings to my beloved daughter Marin Dexter as a small measure of gratitude for all the care and consideration she has shown me throughout my last few years._

_My business holdings, namely my 3% holding in Denver Carrington my place on the board, and my controlling interest in Dexter International I leave to Farnsworth Dexter…"_

_Releasing the breath Dex hadn't realised he had been holding Dex finally allowed himself to relax, he didn't care about the house he never had that was Marin's obsession but he had wanted the company his grandfather had built up from nothing, the company he had effectively been running for the last seven years._

"_On one condition…" Mr Harris paused his breath catching and Dex felt a punch to his gut, of course there was something, why else would Marin be gloating._

"_That my son promises on his honour to cease all contact hence forward with Alexis Carrington Colby, and that he agrees to sign a contract stating that if he should break his word he would forfeit control of all Dexter International stock to his sister…"_

"_This is outrageous!" Dex exploded physically shaking as if he wanted to storm forward and rip the offending document in half. "He can't do this, that is my company."_

"_Dex please calm down…Darling please…" Alexis did her best to try and sooth him but Dex was beyond reasoning right now and if it hadn't been for Blake's restraining arm forcing Dex down into a seat then she wasn't sure who he would have attacked first._

"_I take it then you refuse the condition of the will." Mr Harris asked softly. "Dex take a moment to think about this, for yourself and your son…"_

"_I don't need a moment…"Dex began hot headedly until Alexis pressed her fingers to his lips and stopped him._

"_Just let me talk to him first…" She pleaded and Mr Harris nodded his agreement ignoring Marin's huff as Alexis took Dex by the hand and pulled him back into the dining room. _

_Shutting the door behind them, cutting off the curious gazes of their onlookers Alexis didn't hesitate before taking Dex into her arms. She scattered kisses across his face and ran her fingers through his hair until the red haze in his eyes seemed to lift and he could look at her with something approaching control._

"_How could he do that to me Alexis?" Dex asked gruffly his deep voice breaking with all the suppressed anger and pain._

"_I don't know Darling, I honestly don't." Alexis answered softly as she met and held his gaze her own eyes swimming with tears. "Dex you know I love you but I want you to take a moment to think about this, this choice isn't fair but you need to think with your head and not your temper…"  
_

"_Alexis there is no way I am agreeing to that." Dex retorted hotly his confusion only growing as Alexis shook her head. "You can't want me to?"_

"_Baby what I want doesn't matter here, not really. I love you and I want to be with you and Jack but not if I am going to cost your and his future; I won't be that selfish." Alexis added not surprised when her own voice began to break but she forced herself to continue, to say aloud the things that had to be said now. _

"_We haven't lasted before, every time one of us has hurt the other, if something happens to us this time…" Alexis paused to brush back tears. "I couldn't bear it if you gave up everything for me and something happened and then you had lost everything for nothing."_

"_I wouldn't have nothing I would have you; I would have us." Dex snapped his dark eyes glinting. "I know what you are trying to do Alexis and I won't let you."_

"_If you knew everything then you might decide differently." Alexis whispered softly, she had to tell him, he had a right to know, how could she with live with herself otherwise. "Dex the night after you left for Wyoming I…Blake and I…" She managed to spit out finally lifting her gaze to meet Dex's whose dark eyes stared at her in horror._

"_No…NO…" Dex hissed shaking his head backing up towards the table. "You're just saying this to make me change my mind…Alexis stop, just stop please…"_

"_I was alone and upset and he seemed to need me…or at least he needed my money badly…At the moment I honestly don't know which one he was really after. I knew it was a mistake and then I heard about Sam and I knew how much you would need someone and I had to be that someone."_

"_So you slept with him and then same trotting on down here to me." Dex growled. "You held me and comforted me and shared my bed and all the time you'd been with him…" He added quickly covering the ground between them and grasping her arms shaking her hard like a rag doll._

"_Yes."_

"_And you…were you ever going to tell me?"_

"_Yes…No…I don't know." Alexis answered as honestly as she could, not even flinching when Dex's fingers dug painfully into her arms._

"_You bitch." Dex grunted releasing her suddenly as if burnt._

_Hanging her head Alexis rubbed her sore arms she couldn't bring herself to meet his gaze or defend herself. _

"_I guess that makes your choice a little easier for you now." She added softly. "I am sorry Dex, I do love you and Jack but I guess a part of me is just too weak when it comes to Blake…when he is in trouble I can't help myself, I have an instinctive need to help him."_

"_Yeah I guess…I guess I know how that feels." Dex retorted, bitterness dripping from his tongue. "So this is it, we're over, just like that?"_

_Frowning in confusion Alexis lifted her gaze from the floor. "I don't…"_

"_So you go back to Blake and I lose again?"_

"_I am not going back to Blake, I told you that…" Alexis answered struggling to keep up with all the twists and turns in this conversation._

"_Was that before or after the two of you slept together?" Dex added sarcastically._

"_Before and after!" Alexis snapped. "I am telling you exactly what I told him, that I love you and Jack and I wanted to be with you and not him, that he needed to let me go."_

"_And let me guess he agreed?" Dex snorted. "Because following you down here is really letting you go Alexis."_

_A discrete cough from the doorway was the first signal that they were no longer alone and an embarrassed Mr Harris glanced between the arguing couple. "It has been more than five minutes and I do hate to interrupt but we need to resume the reading…I am going to need you to come back in Farnsworth."_

_Clenching jaw Dex nodded sharply his movements robotic as he followed Mr Harris back into the room, shaking off Alexis's hand as he passed her by._

"_Dex…"_

"_Don't…" Dex muttered his dark eyes burning into hers. "Just don't."_

"_I'm sorry…" Alexis whispered refusing to let the last things they said to each other be bitter and full of hate. "I love you. I know this is going to be the last chance I get to say it, but you're my best friend and I am going to regret loosing you for the rest of my life I know it."_

_Swallowing Dex didn't trust his voice to answer he simply stepped into the salon but he didn't…he couldn't close the door on Alexis. Instead he hovered just inside the doorway._

"_Farnsworth I am afraid I need your answer." Mr Harris spoke his voice soft with compassion. "If you want to claim your inheritance then I will need your signature on this paper."_

_Nodding Dex crossed the room on automatic pilot ignoring Marin's smug little "I knew it" or Blake's startled gasp and trying desperately to block out a choked sob that had to have been Alexis. Picking up the pen he stared down at the neatly typed document, such a simple statement that had already caused so much heartache. He pressed the pen down on the line began the downward slash of his name…_

_He couldn't do it._

_No matter what Alexis had done he still loved her more than anything and his all too perfect memory reminded him quite timely that he had cheated on Alexis twice and both times she had found a way to forgive him. The pain…the ache of her betrayal tight now felt like a dagger in his chest but given time wouldn't it numb…wouldn't he come to regret this?_

_Setting down the pen Dex ignored Marin's spluttered demand he picked up the contract and ripped it down the middle._

_No one told Dex Dexter how he could live his life, he had never let any man control him and he wasn't about to make an exception for a man already six feet under._

"_Dex don't be an idiot, you'd throw away all of this for her?" Marin demanded her voice shrill in his ear._

"_No for my own self respect." Dex spat back turning to meet his sister's gaze. "No body tells me how to live my life, and I want Alexis in my life, so enjoy your inheritance little sister it's all yours now, the money, the company, the big house."_

"_But what am I going to do?" Marin demanded. "I don't know anything about the company that was your area."_

_Shrugging Dex suddenly felt lighter than he had in years, the yoke of Dexter International or living up to and abiding by all his family responsibilities was gone. "That's not my problem Marin it's yours." Dex answered turning to leave when he Mr Harris suddenly stopped him._

"_Mr Dexter I am not finished with you yet?"_

_Snorting Dex shook his head. "Look if the old man has any more offers like the last one then I am not interested."_

"_Nothing of the kind." Mr Harris answered as he reached into his pocket and withdrew another envelope. "However if you chose this option then I was instructed to pass this on to you…I do not know the contents." He added when Dex began to protest. "What you choose to do with it is of course your decision but I have a duty to fulfil."_

_Nodding Dex accepted the envelope stuffing it into his pocket without a second glance before striding back towards the door and a completely silently stunned Alexis._

"_Dex if you leave with her don't you ever come back here brother, we'll be finished." Marin insisted her strong ultimatum only faltering as her own voice wavered._

_Pausing as he took Alexis elbow in his grasp Dex turned to stare back at his almost pleading sister, at the remnants of a family he had once been part of, a family that had used him and now turned their backs on him. "Is that supposed to make me change my mind?" Dex asked not waiting for an answer before ushering Alexis out before him._

_It was over. He was done with it._

"Dex?" The soft voice jolted Dex from his memories and he gazed down into Alexis's concerned face, watching as she opened her mouth to speak before closing it again and nervously biting her lip.

Dex supposed Alexis had reason enough to be nervous. They hadn't spoken about the elephant in the room last night. Dex preferred to think that was because there hadn't been time rather than the fact that he was avoiding having to address it. After all they did have to pack in rather a hurry, less than an hour after the will reading Dex had bundled both Alexis and Jack into his car and they hit the road. Alexis had only made one attempt to talk to him and Dex had shot that down pretty quickly so they had driven the rest of the way in silence, not exchanging another word until an exhausted Dex had asked if she wanted to stop somewhere for the night.

They had pulled off at the next motel stop, had rented the first room with its own bathroom and Alexis had collapsed on the bed, Jack nestled between them like some sort of safety barrier. Yet now he couldn't keep running from this.

"Dex why?" Alexis insisted her emerald eyes dark pools in the darkened room as she struggled to read his expression. "I don't understand…"

"I love you." Dex answered gruffly as if that simple answer could explain everything.

"But your company…Jack's inheritance…I'm not worth it." Alexis whispered. "All I ever do is disappoint and hurt you."

"And love me and forgive me when I mess up…eventually." Dex added yet he still couldn't bring himself to meet her gaze. "As for Jack's inheritance, do you remember when I first came to Denver, the day we first met?"

"Of course."

"I told you then I was forming an empire, well I guess I let things with my father, my responsibilities with Dexter International hold me back. I spent my time and sweat on their dreams and not mine, well I have the time to build that empire now and my son will have no doubts about what will one day be his." Dex insisted before adding softly. "Besides Jack has already lost one mother Alexis I won't be responsible for taking another from him."

Swallowing down the tears of relief that sprung to her eyes Alexis couldn't bring herself to comprehend the depth of feeling Dex kept locked inside him. "So where do we go from here Dex?"

Sighing Dex finally forced himself to meet her gaze and the sight of her eyes bright with unshed tears eased some of the deep hurt that still stabbed his chest. "We go forward Alexis…One baby step at a time."

Part 2:

He was wallowing again.

Yet as he sat at the breakfast table and watched everyone else busily preparing for their day ahead Blake couldn't find a single thing to focus on that could drag himself out of the terrible quicksand of depression. He had lost his company, the respect of his children and his peers but worst of all things Blake now had to face the dreadful truth, the one had been avoiding facing now for months but the events of the last few days had finally brought home in terrible startling clarity; he had lost Alexis.

Really lost her this time…

After all what could he ever possibly do that could compare to the display of affection and sacrifice that Dexter had, rather naively in Blake's opinion, made in front of his family. To give up his inheritance like that even after some sort of quarrel with Alexis, the possible topic for the argument Blake had to admit had had him sweating nervously under his black tie. Yet even if Blake would have personally challenged the will, citing Sam's vulnerable and persuadable condition before his death, he still had to respect Dex for being brave enough to make such a choice.

It wasn't going to be easy for Dex now or Alexis, who would Blake knew secretly carry the guilt for costing her lover so much; it was very hard to watch your life's work slip away from you, to watch others wade in and take over the reins. At least Blake was lucky, he had the comfort of knowing that his was in Alexis's and Jeff's hands, if Alexis decided to keep him on, that his company was guided by skilled and experienced people. Denver Carrington would continue to grow and proper but Dexter International…

Blake shivered at the thought, that could so easily have been Denver Carrington, being seized by inexperienced hands, would Marin Dexter be any better than Frank Dobson? What would happen to all the men and women working for that company now? Somehow Blake doubted Marin had the ability or even the desire to step into the rather large shoes left by her brother so what would be the result? A sale…a takeover…perhaps she would find someone to run it for her?

Shaking his head Blake pushed all those questions aside, he was just trying to distract himself again, like he always did rather than actually confronting and dealing with his emotions Blake Carrington was famous for not dealing, for suppressing how he felt until he all but exploded and chaos was the result.

"Blake?" Jeff's concerned voice drew Blake back to the breakfast table and he was surprised to realise everyone else had left and he hadn't even realised it. Clearly the only reason Jeff had repeated his name was because he had failed to answer some question or other.

"I'm sorry Jeff what did you say?"

Sighing Jeff sat his briefcase back down on the table and resumed his seat. "I said wish me luck for the board meeting today. Didn't you hear me at all?"

Frowning Blake tried to recall what Jeff was talking about. "Why would you need luck?"

"Because they are convening a board to discuss the new CEO for Denver Carrington and I am going to throw my hat into the ring, I know it won't mean a thing if Alexis has her own candidate in mind." Jeff replied his eyes narrowing slightly at the somewhat smug expression Adam seemed to be wearing all through breakfast before dismissing it.

"I think I should be able to get most of the board's backing."

"Well you would have my vote…If I still had one." Blake added bitterly his darks eyes softening somewhat as he took in his son-in-law's tense shoulders. "You'll do fine."

"I hope so, Denver Carrington means a lot to me and I would hate to see anything happen to it." Jeff answered. "However if Alexis makes either Adam or Dobson CEO then I am out of there."

Snorting Blake shook his head. "From what I've picked up behind the scene's I don't think there is a cat in hell's chance of that. However…" Blake trailed off as another idea suddenly struck his brain. She wouldn't would she?

"Blake?" Jeff prodded tilting his head to one side, his blue eyes boring into Blake as though he could see the cogs and gears of Blake's mind whirling away.

"I don't think it is either Adam or Dobson you need to be worrying about there is another possible surprise candidate."

"Who?" Jeff asked frowning in confusion as Blake practically spat out the answer, his handsome face contorted in horror.

"Dexter!"

Ok perhaps as he screeched through another almost red light without even touching the brakes, taking the corner so fast that for a moment there were only two tyres actually touching the tarmac…Perhaps he was going a little fast. But too fast suited his mood and for a moment the rush of adrenaline as the car bucked under his hands meant he felt something else; something different, something that wasn't a deadly spirit sapping cocktail of grief, anger and heartache.

So as he finally pulled up in the garage underneath his apartment complex Dex grudgingly admitted the only good thing about getting to his destination was the fact that he had managed to make the journey without getting stopped and given a ticket by the cops. Yet even a little tangle with the police might have been a welcome distraction, might have gotten his mind onto another subject for at least few moments and given his bleeding heart some much needed respite.

Yet try as he might Dex couldn't stop thinking about it. Was he destined to be betrayed by everyone he loved first his father, his sister and…Alexis's betrayal cut deeper than any. He still loved her, Dex was beginning to realise that nothing short of a lobotomy would stop him from loving Alexis but that didn't mean he particularly liked her at the moment. He still couldn't close his eyes without his brain taunting him with images of Blake and Alexis together. Dex did his best to suppress them, but every time he tried to rest they came back, a different scenario.

As he had lain beside a sleeping Alexis staring at the ceiling Dex had actually wondered if it was worth waking her and demanding all the gory details just so his damn imagination would stop torturing him. Was it only once? Was it here in this bed? Did Blake tell her he loved her? Did Alexis say it back?

No…No he had to stop this…Dex resisted the urge to punch something instead he turned his key to activate the elevator and rode up to his floor; making it all the way to his door before one glance at the new lock reminded him…Damn it how had he forgotten about the break in?

Of course with everything else that had been going on in the last week or so, fighting with Alexis, his father's illness and death, being trapped in Wyoming whilst his sister stole out his life's work from under him; it was little wonder he had forgotten about coming home to find out his apartment had been turned over. He had left in somewhat of a hurry and left it to his neighbour to sort out…

Dex shook his head. Poor Angela she must be cursing the day he moved into this complex. He hadn't even left her a number on which she could contact him in Wyoming.

Awkwardly Dex made his way down the hall to his neighbour's door. He didn't know it would be better if she was in or not, but if she wasn't then Dex knew he was only delaying the inevitable. So gathering his courage he knocked on the door. A moment later it opened and the pleasant smile on Angela's face quickly fell to be replaced by a barely concealed one of irritation.

"Oh it's you…"

Forcing on his most charming smile Dex tried to channel his most apologetic face but from the way Angela's scowl seemed to deepen it didn't seem to be having it's normal effect. "Would it help if I said I am very sorry?

Snorting Angela picked up a set of keys from her hall table not speaking as she pushed past Dex and strode off down the hallway back towards his locked apartment.

Raising an eyebrow in surprise Dex muttered sullenly under his breath. "I suppose not."

Standing in Blake's empty office Alexis gazed around the room unable to contain the conflicted emotions that bubbled up inside her. Blake Carrington had built an empire in this room, and despite all their past and current difficulties Alexis couldn't help but feel the twinge of deep symbiotic pain. She knew Blake would be putting on a brave face but deep down he had to be broken at loosing his life's work.

Sighing deeply as she ran her fingertips along the smooth desk, played with the two silver fountain pens and straightened the notepad that still bore the imprint of Blake's handwriting, Alexis felt the guilt surge up once more…There were a lot of people who were broken because of her.

Dex still couldn't meet her gaze for long and when he did the pain in his dark eyes almost undid her. Yet every time she tried to reach out to him Dex pulled away, not that Alexis could really blame him. Even in bed he turned his back on her, not that Alexis wanted anything more than just to hold him and try and give him some sort of comfort. What worried her more than his distance was the fact that he was suppressing everything and that wasn't like Dex. He was hot blooded and quick to anger, when he was in pain he didn't normally contain it; he let it out screaming his anger at the world which was far healthier than keeping it all in and letting the poison work inward.

"Mother…" Adam's voice jarred Alexis and she turned and glared at him, matters still were far from resolved between despite Adam's toadying efforts and Alexis could see them for what the really were. True there might be some genuine guilt in there but Adam had always been able to shed any lingering guilt and responsibility quickly especially as from his perspective Alexis hadn't suffered from his telling Frank.

"They are all assembled and waiting for you." Adam added gulping as Alexis's glare burnt into him yet he did his best to keep his nerves hidden, after all it wasn't as though Alexis really had another option who else could she choose who was familiar with Denver Carrington but also Colby Co operating procedure…And the only other option…No despite their current disagreement Alexis was still his mother and she wouldn't do that to him.

Nodding Alexis picked up her purse, tucking it under her arm, before picking up her briefcase and following him to the boardroom. Seated around the tables were some old familiar faces and a few newer and less welcome ones. At the far end a somewhat pale looking Frank Dobson met her gaze before quickly looking away and Alexis had to stifle a smug little smile, at least someone had finally learnt his place, yet somehow Alexis was certain Frank's nerves were not down to her alone; no doubt his real employers were less than pleased with him.

Marin Dexter was the surprise face and Alexis had to stifle her impulse to scratch the little witch's eyes out. That was Dex's seat and that little bitch was sitting there smugly as though she had any right to it. Moving to take her seat Alexis was amused when both Adam and Jeff stood to pull it out for her.

"Gentlemen." Alexis greeted most of the board members with a polite nod, skimming over and snubbing those people who had no real right to be there. "Well shall we get started? Jeff would you like to give the updates on the current position?"

If Jeff was surprised that she had called on him he didn't show it, and Alexis watched him closely as he took over leading the meeting.

"I won't pull any punches Denver Carrington's current financial position is precarious. The value of her stock has stabilised for the time being mainly due the announcement of the take over." Jeff conceded nodding towards Alexis who smiled softly before nodding for him to continue.

"However once word reaches the popular press of the Australian Government's intention to sue Denver Carrington for damages I am expecting it to drop once again." Jeff added.

"How about if we offered to settle out of court?" One board member asked. "We could settle for an undisclosed sum and prevent the negative press."

Nodding Jeff replied. "In principle that is what we would like to achieve, I already have our contacts in Australian trying to set up the appropriate meetings however tempers are running rather hot down there and there is considerably political pressure to see the courts collect their pound of flesh…"

"So what you are saying is it is going to cost us a hell of a lot of money to keep this out of the public eye."

"And even then it might not be enough." Jeff muttered. "Plus there is the problem of cash flow, currently Denver Carrington doesn't have the reserves to pay out a fraction of the sum they are asking for, we're asset rich and cash poor."

"Then why don't you sell off some of those assets and free up the money?" Marin Dexter's voice cut into the discussion for the first time and Alexis cut Jeff off to slam the ignorant little witch down.

"Oh what a splendid idea why did we not think of that?" Alexis drawled sarcastically enjoying the way Marin bristled. "I mean lets go right ahead, sell off the very assets we need to run our business, not to mention the signals that would send the market, our stock would drop through the floor and we would struggle to get a fraction of the true value for anything we did sell."

"I was only trying to help…"

"Well don't, keep your ignorance to yourself." Alexis hissed shutting the younger woman down fast.

Waiting for the two women to finish before continuing Jeff shuffled his papers. "The only real option is to raise the funds through other means…We could release more stock but I think our best option is to try and refinance."

Nodding Alexis couldn't help but agree, they were hardly in a strong enough market position to release more stock not to mention she had a nagging suspicion about just who might be waiting in the wings to eagerly gobble up any new stock releases.

"I could help there." Frank Dobson spoke up first the first time. "Actually my associates could help with all Denver Carrington's problems, we have significant contacts with the Australian government and with some highly respected financiers…" Frank paused reaching into his own portfolio for a lengthy document.

"In fact I already had an agreement in principle for the sum needed to cover the two billion demanded and I am certain that we can get this all agreed without anything reaching the press…"

"And what would you be asking in return?" Alexis cut in her emerald eyes locking on Frank who seemed to have regained some of his former confidence; his icy grey eyes met hers and this time he didn't flinch.

"We want the CEO position." Frank retorted he didn't even blink as the other board members began to mutter.

"And if we refuse, I suppose you will use those 'contacts' of yours to thwart our every move?" Alexis muttered. "I won't be bullied into this Frank not by you and not by those mysterious associates of yours."

"I would hardly call offering a solution to your problems bullying Alexis." Frank retorted a half smile tugging at his thin lips as Alexis scowled at him. "Playing hardball however…"

"Well that sounds fine to me you have my vote." Marin cut in smiling at Frank who barely glanced at her in thank you.

"No." There was no way Alexis would ever agree to letting that man take control of Denver Carrington.

"Alexis be reasonable…" Frank cajoled. "You have a lot of money invested in this company, I would hate to see you or any of our fellow stock holders lose that. You support my candidacy and you have my word all your problems will go away."

Snorting Alexis caught Frank's less than subtle insinuation, well he was dealing with the wrong woman if he thought he could blackmail her, especially when all he had to back it up was hearsay. "Well I propose a different candidate, one with proven experience in the oil business, some one who actually knows Denver Carrington and can get the best out of her staff…Well Jeff what do you say?" Alexis turned to the man sitting to her right.

To say Jeff was surprised would have been an understatement and he could barely contain his exclamation, his pleasure only increasing as Alexis smiled and Adam scowled.

"I would be honoured…"

"Well then let's put it to the vote." Alexis added turning to gaze around the room. "All those in favour of supporting Mr Dobson and accepting his 'generous' offer." Her glare only intensified as Marin Dexter put her hand in the air and a few others follow suit.

"All those in favour of Mr Colby taking over the running of Denver Carrington?"

Slowly the hands went up following Alexis's example, yet there were still a few abstainers and not enough for a clear majority.

"Gentlemen we are at an impasse…"

"May I make a suggestion Mrs Colby?" One of the abstainers spoke up. "My personal preference would be Mr Colby but I have to admit I am concerned about this legal challenge…I am prepared to support Mr Colby on the condition that he is able to prove himself by sorting out this Australian mess, however if he can't then I will have no choice but to propose a vote of no confidence and accept Mr Dobson's offer."

As more heads around the table began to nod their agreement Alexis could feel her stomach churn. Turning to Jeff she met his conflicted gaze, it wasn't ideal but it wasn't like they had any other options right now.

"Agreed." Jeff answered for them both and several more hands went up.

"Well that looks like we have our decision." Alexis added ignoring Frank's muttered threats that this was far from over as he gathered his briefcase and stormed out of the board meeting. "May I suggest we adjourn this meeting until Mr Colby has time to settle in?"

Nods of agreement followed, as the board members were content to gather their belongings and congratulate Jeff as they left. Finally there was only Jeff and Alexis left as Adam stalked out just after a put out Marin Dexter who huffed in disgust as the younger Carrington barged past her with barely a glance.

"Well excuse you." Marin spat her dark eyes locking on Adam's blue gaze, her scowl only deepening as Adam turned away without even an apology. "Well I can see where you get your manners from." Marin yelled after him before slamming the door to the boardroom behind her.

"Congratulations Jeff." Alexis whispered turning to offer her hand to her newest CEO, her smile growing as Jeff not only shook it but also drew her forward for a hug. This was the right decision for Denver Carrington, the right decision for the family, Jeff could be trusted to do what was right for them all and he was the only one right now that Alexis knew could bear this responsibility without being corrupted by it.

Then perhaps she would be able to keep her promise to Blake…that was if Frank Dobson and the secretive Mr Davenport didn't find a way to stop them.

Part 3:

Blake was seated beside the pool enjoying the summer sun as Danny and Krystina frolicked in the water. It was August again and the children would be heading back to school soon but for now they provided a welcome distraction even as he tried to read his financial papers; Blake wasn't looking for anything in particular perhaps he was just waiting for something to reach out and grab him.

"Grandpa look look I can do a dive." Danny called out catching Blake's attention as he balanced on the edge of the pool before leaning forward and ending up in the pool with a giant splash.

Laughing behind his hand Blake tried to regain a straight face. "That's very good Danny just keep working on it."

As Blake went back to his newspaper a shadow cast over the print. Squinting back up against the light Blake's smile quickly fell as he recognised his company. "Steven."

"Dad…May I?" Steven asked indicating the empty seat.

Nodding Blake folded his newspaper watching as his youngest son took the other seat and shifted uncomfortably.

"Well you obviously have something on your mind Steven so lets have it."

"Actually I was just going to go but Krystle suggested…"

"Krystle?" Blake cut in frowning. "What has Krystle got to do with this?"

"She suggested I talk to you first that I clear the air before…before I left." Steven forced himself to finish lifting his blue eyes to try and ascertain his father's expression but Blake remained stoic and impossible to read.

"You think we can clear the air?" Blake asked doing his best to keep a rein on his temper. "After everything that has happened, after you betrayed me and I had to sell my company to your mother or risk loosing everything, you have something to say that can wash all that all way?" Blake snorted unable to keep the disdain from creeping into his voice. "Well I must admit Steven I can't wait to hear this."

Steven tried not to let his father's familiar tone irritate him but his hackles were on the rise and despite his best intentions Steven couldn't help snapped back. "I think we both know it isn't that simple but I…Look I made a mistake, a terrible lapse in judgement and I let my feelings cloud my thinking. I regret going about things the way I did…"

"But you do still think I deserved it don't you?" Blake cut. "You may regret the impact on Denver Carrington but on me personally, you still think I got what I deserved don't you?"

Biting his lip Steven rose suddenly from his seat. "There is no way of talking to you…I am here trying to apologise…"

"And doing such a first rate job of it too, shame you are not as proficient with apologies as you seem to be with sabotage." Blake bit back, slightly regretting being quite so blunt when Steven flinched as if he had struck him again.

"I am sorry but since you really don't want to hear it…" Steven muttered shaking his head turning to head back inside.

"So now what, you're just running away?" Blake questioned. "I don't know why I am so surprised, this is what you always do when things get too much for you…When your marriage failed it was to that oil rig, when things with your siblings and running Denver Carrington got too much it was Washington and now…Where are you running to this time Steven?"

Sighing deeply Steven shrugged trying not to let his father's barbs get to him. "Honestly I don't know…Anywhere would be better than here."

"How could you do it?"

Alexis had barely gotten the door to her office shut behind her before Adam started, standing in front of the long window that dominated the far end of her office with his arms crossed Alexis could tell from the tense hunched set of his shoulders that her son was barely containing himself.

Setting her briefcase down Alexis paused before answering. "Would you like the short or the long answer?"

Clearly not amused by his mother's sarcasm Adam turned sharply his blue eyes now boring directly into Alexis's emeralds rather than meeting her reflection in the glass. "You're my mother and yet you choose Colby over me!"

"Adam it is not a question of choosing Jeff over you, I had to make a decision based on what was best for Denver Carrington…"

"And obviously I am not it!" Adam snapped back. "What the hell does Colby have that makes him so special?"

"For starters Jeff doesn't throw a tantrum like a five year old when he doesn't get his own way." Alexis retorted sharply. "Honestly Adam I cannot believe you are reacting like this, after your recent behaviour are you honestly surprised that I didn't just hand you Denver Carrington on a platter like it was all your Christmas and Birthday presents in one?"

"But I'm your son!" Adam repeated pacing forward. "We're blood; I'm a Carrington, Denver Carrington is my birthright."

"Yes it is and one day it and Colby Co will belong to you and your siblings. But that day is not today…" Alexis sighed reaching for her son, unable to contain the guilt that swelled up as he shook her hand away. "Adam I love you, nothing you have ever done can alter that. Haven't I shown that in so many ways but this isn't about love or blood Adam this about trust and competence."

"You think I am incapable?"

"I think you are prone to letting your own ambition and outsiders influence you." Alexis replied honestly facing down Adam's hurt expression. "You have a lot of talent Adam but you are not the strongest person and with Dobson and his cronies still trying to get their sticky fingers on Denver Carrington I can't take the risk right now."

"You can't take the risk?" Adam drawled sarcasm dripping from his tone. "Well it is nice to finally know what you think of me mother."

"Adam…" Alexis called out as her son stormed out barging past Mark who had the unfortunate timing to open the door a few moments before. "ADAM!"

"Hmmm did Mummy forget to warm your bottle this morning?" Mark muttered bitchily glaring after the heir to the throne. "What no sorry?" He called after Adam who didn't even bother to glance back before mumbling. "Well that's the last time I get you a skinny latte!"

"Yes Mark did you want something, I have already had quite the morning." Alexis added popping open her briefcase and slamming some forms down on the desk.

"Hmmm indeed methinks there is upset in the royal nursery." Mark commented shrugging off Alexis's eye roll and scorching glare. "Someone didn't get any this morning?"

"Mark…" Alexis all but growled.

"Definitely didn't get any." Mark commented under his breath as he set her tea tray down on the sideboard.

"Any messages or did you just come in to pass judgement on my life?" Alexis snorted as she sorted through the mail Mark had left on her desk.

"Of course at once your highness." Mark drawled reaching for the portfolio that he had brought in with him. "Alright first up you had another call from Halesworth Oil they want to discuss the start up arrangements for the Korean leases again I told them you would get back to them but I think my credibility is getting stretched a little thin."

"Fine point taken I'll call them before I head home for lunch."

"You can but I think you'll find there won't be anybody there…Time difference." Mark added when Alexis stared at him funny.

"The press relations team want to you to approve their statement about the situation with Denver Carrington and your butler called…"

"What did Patrick want… there isn't a problem with the baby?"

"Oh no he simply wanted to inform you that the decorators you had hired to fix up the nursery had arrived and that they should be finished before you add your surprise...I don't suppose you'd care to share just what surprise this might be? A little something special for Mr Tall Dark and totally f…"

"No." Alexis added curtly as she fixed herself a cup of tea, stirring in the milk and adding a sugar cube.

"Not even a little clue for your favourite little Marky?"

Scowling over the rim of her teacup Alexis tried to restrain the twitch of her lips. "You are not my favourite you are nothing but a nuisance."

"Ah you love having me around Alexis no one else would put up with your mood swings." Mark teased winking at Alexis who simply rolled her eyes.

Unable to contain her smile Alexis shooed him out of the room. "Honestly just get back to work."

It was a real mess.

In a way it looked worse now the police had been in than Dex remembered. Yet it became clear as he walked around that his apartment hadn't simply been turned over, it had been trashed. Someone was clearly trying to send him a message, what other reason could there be for smashing up his appliances, shredding his sofa and trashing his photographs?

"They didn't find any prints." Angela spoke breaking the silence, watching awkwardly from near the door as Dex picked his way between the remains of his life her former anger having evaporated as she watched the fragile man try and sort out the mess.

Snorting Dex shook his head gathering the few things that seemed to have escaped the rampage. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Well I suppose I should get back…"

"Thank you." Dex cut Angela off, righting one of the few dining chairs that hadn't been broken in two. "I really appreciate everything that you did, I can only imagine you look back on my moving in here with dread…All I've done is turn your life upside down."

"Well it has been much livelier around here that's for sure." Angela quipped hovering as she set the new keys down on the breakfast bar. "When will you be moving back in?"

Shrugging his shoulders Dex tried to act nonchalant when inside that question provoked turmoil. "Umm I don't know…I can't bring Jack back here with the place like this and there is the security issue…" And Alexis Dex added silently to himself. Before all this mess Alexis had invited him and Jack to live at Colby Acres but right now Dex wasn't so sure if that was the right step.

He really wasn't sure about anything at the moment.

"Well the place will need some work first." Angela deadpanned relieved when that got Dex to crack a small smile.

Rubbing his head Dex had to admit that she had a point and at least think about the apartment was a welcome distraction than the mess with Alexis. "Yeah well I suppose I should get a few things together."

"I could help if you want…I have a couple of boxes I haven't chucked out yet?" Angela asked her smile brightening when Dex nodded gratefully.

A few moments later Angela returned and it didn't take long for them to fill a couple of boxes with clothes, a teddy that Dex had first brought Jack in the hospital and a few photographs that somehow managed to escape the rampage before the pair headed back down to the garage and as awkward silence descended in the lift.

"I heard on the news about your father." Angela finally spoke watching her companion closely as he shifted the box in his hands and glared at the light display that showed the passing floors. "I just wanted to say I am sorry for your loss…My Dad died when a few years ago, we weren't close but it still shook me up…If you want to talk?"

"Thanks but I'm ok." Dex muttered risking a quick glance at Angela who smiled softly yet quite clearly he hadn't convinced her. "It's complicated…We didn't get to clear the air and my sister decided to make trouble. It's one big mess and trust me I've already dragged you into enough of my problems."

"Yeah well I am sure you have plenty of friends you can talk to instead of me." Angela laughed depreciatingly. "I mean who wouldn't rather spend time with Alexis Colby instead of little ole me?"

That got a laugh, even if it was only a slightly bitter sounding chuckle. "Trust me you're a lot less drama…But thanks for the offer it means a lot, I guess I don't really have that many friends I can talk to." Dex added the realisation that in Denver his whole world really revolved around Alexis and her damn demanding children. Now he didn't even have his Dexter International work colleagues.

Finally the lift arrived at the garage and the pair made their way to Dex's car. Setting the boxes in the back seat Dex turned back to Angela who hung around awkwardly.

"Well I guess I'll see you around?" Angela asked hopefully watching as Dex nodded before surprising him and stepping in for a sudden hug. "It will get better, I know you hear all this bullshit about time healing all wounds but it really does work."

Although he was surprised by the sudden contact Dex had to admit it felt good to just be held and not have any of the feelings of pain and jealously flair up and so he hugged her back for a moment. Closing his eyes as she pressed a kiss to his cheek, neither of them noticed the hunched figure at the end of the garage that focused in on the pair, nor the steady clicking of his camera.

These photographs were going to make someone very happy indeed.

Part 4:

If she was honest with herself Marin Dexter had had better days…She had had better weeks as well and this one had started off in the worst possible way and hadn't improved much. The responsibility for that Marin placed at the feet of one woman.

Alexis Colby had ruined everything for her family the day she first ensnared Dex with her wiles and taken him from his family. Whilst Dex had been living it up in Denver Marin had no choice but to stay in Wyoming, after all one of them had to be responsible and look after their father after he had heart attack and strokes that sapped his strength and turned him into a shadow of the handsome protector Marin remembered from her childhood. Dex hadn't had to watch that slow painful decay; he hadn't had to face Sam's growing grief as his only son pulled further and further away from his only living family. Marin had and unlike her big brother she hadn't been able to hide from the truth and it had eaten at her and taken years of her life away.

Now aged thirty-three she had her life back, she had money and position and absolutely no one to share it with and if she was being honest inside Marin was terrified. She had been raised in privilege; a wealthy background meant that she had only attended college because it was expected and because she enjoyed the parties and trips to the coast. Marin had never learnt the family business because there was need for her to, by the time she had finished college Dex was already practically running the company after making his own millions. Her role was what it had always been as the only woman in the house, she managed the staff, attended society parties and acted as hostess for her father when it was their turn. True she occasional let loose a little, but the Carrington children had done far worse and nobody seemed to lecture them about it. Nothing in that training had prepared her for running an oil company.

Of course none of it was meant to happen this way…

Dex had been supposed to choose the company; they had been so certain he would. Growing up nothing had been more important to her brother than Dexter International; he had practically clawed that power of attorney out of her father's hands all those years ago. It had seemed so simple when she had suggested it, give him an ultimatum a way to finally remove the curse was that Colby woman from their family and bring Dex back to Wyoming where he and Jack belonged. Dex would run the company and Marin could back to her own life, finally!

Instead she was in Denver, the last place the world she ever wanted to be but having inherited all her father's holdings included his seat on the Denver Carrington board Marin had no choice but to attend when a board meeting was called. Of course she could have flown back as soon as it was over but that would mean heading back and actually having to take control of Dexter International, something that she was far from ready for. So she made the decision to stay another night at The Carlton and even though she didn't have any plans, or knew anyone other than the Carrington's, Marin knew she couldn't spend the rest of the afternoon in her hotel suite. So instead she headed downstairs, wandering aimlessly through the elegant hotel's many rooms until her feet took her into the bar.

The bar was practically deserted apart from an elderly couple taking tea by the windows and someone propping up the bar…Doing a double take a smirk pulled at her lips and Marin sauntered over. "Well look what the cat dragged in. Is this a private pity party or can anyone join?"

If Adam Carrington was surprised by her sudden arrival he didn't outwardly show it, in fact his eyes barely flickered over her before he was back to studying his glass. "I'm sorry do I know you?"

"Well considering you practically barged me out of the way earlier you should. For which I might add you never apologised."

"I don't do apologies."

"Why am I not surprised you are a Carrington after all." Marin sniffed her dark eyes raking over Adam's hunched form and the way he seemed to grip his whiskey glass to him, his knuckles near white from the pressure.

Clearly there was much more going on here than meets the eye and who knew after a few more drinks she might learn something interesting…Something she could use and besides it wasn't like there were people lining up to spend time in her company. So setting her purse down on the bar Marin sank down onto the next bar stool. "Why don't you buy me a drink instead of that apology that you owe me?"

"I don't do company either." Adam retorted bitterly this time actually looking up from the depths of his glass to glare at the damn woman bothering him, his irritation only growing when instead of being intimidating and leaving Marin merely smirked and beckoned the barman over, ordering a glass of champagne.

"I don't usually associate with supporters of Alexis Colby as a rule but the bar is somewhat empty at this time of day and beggars can't be choosers so this time I am making you an exception."

"Lucky me." Adam spat back yet at the moment he couldn't find the energy to really make her change her mind. If he ignored Marin's little digs eventually she would get bored or if she continued to prattle in his ear Adam knew he could always move.

"So celebrating Mummy's little victory today are we?"

That little barb stung but Adam refused to give this irritant of a woman the satisfaction of knowing it. Instead he took a deep sip finishing his whiskey before signalling for a refill.

"So that's a no then I take it." Marin fished. "You didn't look best pleased at the time as I recall…"

Sighing as he was made to wait for his drink Adam finally caved the inevitable and turned to face his companion, this time taking the time to actually look at her; she was actually pretty with her large dark eyes and long brown hair falling to just below her shoulders reminded him a little of Kirby. Yet instead of Kirby's porcelain skin Marin had the same olive complexion, as Dexter but fortunately that seemed to be all they had in common. She wasn't beautiful like Dana or empathic like Claudia yet there was something annoyingly familiar about her…

It was the way she carried herself like she considered herself like she above everyone else, a princess surrounded by commoners, and the arrogance of her expression couldn't help but remind him of a young Fallon.

She was certainly as irritating as Fallon…

"What do you want? More to the point what will it take for you go away and leave me in peace?" Adam hissed wanting nothing more than for Marin to leave him to sulk in peace.

Smirking Marin intercepted Adam's refill enjoying the way his blue eyes seem to burn with anger at her impudence as she stirred the ice round in his whiskey with her little finger before sucking the droplets of strong alcohol off of the digit. "Oh nothing much I just came here for a drink and perhaps a little conversation…"

"About what?"

"Oh nothing terribly complex but perhaps you will be able to fill me in, after all I have just inherited an oil company and it would be so helpful if some clever experienced oilman such as yourself helped sketch out the landscape…I mean I barely know one end of a rig from the other and as for the competition…"

Marin let the bait dangle for a moment watching as Adam Carrington hovered on the edge part of him was tempted by the opportunity to prove himself whilst another part of him was still irritated by her presence. In the end she saw the change of heart in his eyes before he even began to speak, and Marin could barely contain her flush of victory. It seemed even the vaunted Adam Carrington first born of the mighty Blake and Alexis was still human; after all what man failed to respond to a woman massaging his ego and the damsel in distress routine worked in most situations.

Handing Adam back his drink Marin sipped on her own champagne as she slowly absorbed everything Carrington had to say and more importantly what he wasn't, the subjects he glossed over. Perhaps this day was going to turn out better than she had thought?

Dinner had been awkward.

Dinner had been more than awkward but Krystle was struggling to put her finger on all the different undercurrents that had made it so yet they had unsettled her, unsettled her so badly that she hadn't been able to settle even when she had headed up to bed. So instead Krystle found herself aimlessly wandering the mansion's hallways, no particular direction in mind. She had checked on Krystina and was relieved to find her daughter sleeping peacefully for a change, her sleep for once not disturbed by nightmares that she refused to share even with her own mother.

Yet even finding Krystina sleeping peacefully had not been enough to stifle Krystle's sense of uneasiness, her sixth sense that this precariously balanced truce could not last and that somewhere the other shoe was about to drop. That and she couldn't shake just how wrong tonight's dinner had felt, the energy was all wrong…

It should have been a celebration of sorts. Jeff had been voted in as the surprise new CEO of Denver Carrington and out of all the possible candidates Krystle knew Blake was happy that his right hand man had been appointed, at least that meant Denver Carrington was in his hands…At least for the foreseeable future that was.

Business discussions had dominated much of the table talk as Blake had much to fill in his replacement and they had discussed at length the possible tactics and contacts Jeff could utilise when he headed down under at the end of the week. Krystle having nothing much to add to the conversation had spent the time encouraging Krystina to eat her vegetables to avoid staring at the empty seats around her.

First it had been Fallon and her children, now Steven had gone and taken Danny over to Colby Acres to be looked after by his sister. Even Adam and Dana hadn't made it down to dinner, Dana pleading a headache had stayed in her room and Adam…Well honestly Krystle had no idea where the eldest Carrington son was this evening, but she supposed having to sit across from Jeff who was excited about taking the position Adam probably coveted for himself, was a little more than even Adam Carrington could probably bear; even he was human somewhere under all of Alexis's genetics.

Yet even Adam was family and it was painful for Krystle to see it falling apart, falling apart and she could do nothing to stop it. She had tried to intervene with Steven and look how well that had ended, Steven had still left and things seemed even worse between him and his father if Blake's terse comment to stay out of his relationship with his son was any indication. Fallon she barely saw anymore, her life was running the Carlton and Colby Acres…

Wandering into the library Krystle was startled out of her melancholy by a sudden movement. "Dana I thought you weren't feeling well?"

Krystle's sudden arrival had certainly taken Dana by surprise and she all but jumped out of her skin when Krystle spoke.

"Oh…I…Well…I'm feeling a little better." Dana mumbled tearing her blue eyes away from Krystle's soul searching gaze.

"Couldn't you sleep either?" Krystle teased in order to try and lighten the mood, a soft smile pulling at her lips. "You know when I couldn't sleep when I was little my Daddy used to take me out on the porch to sit with him on the swing, he'd wrap me up in my blanket and just rock that old porch swing back and forth it always got me to sleep. On nights like this I miss that old swing."

"Shame we don't have one." Dana muttered. "Somehow I can't see Blake having one installed on the patio." She added a slightly less awkward silence fell between the two women.

"You know what works almost as well?" Krystle asked waiting until a hesitant Dana lifted her tired eyes to meet her gaze, the question clear in their depths. "Midnight feasts…Come on let's raid Mrs Gunnerson's pantry, I feel the need for something sweet and terribly bad for us."

"I…I really shouldn't I wouldn't want to miss…I mean I'm waiting…" Sighing Dana sank back into the sofa her facade dropping to reveal a very troubled woman. "Adam still isn't home and I'm worried, all he has been talking about for days was how he was certain he would finally get what he deserved, that one way or another he would finally be CEO of Denver Carrington and now…"

"Jeff." Krystle added softly finishing the younger woman's sentence.

"I'm just afraid he is going to do something he will regret, something foolish. He's probably drowning his sorrows in a bar somewhere and I hate it Krystle, I hate how much he drinks, how he always turns to alcohol to solve his problems…I just don't know how much longer I can take this, I love him, I've always loved him and I probably always will but I don't like him very much at the moment. It is such a mess."

Sighing Krystle wished she knew what to say to make it better, or what to do to make Adam come to his senses. In the past Krystle was certain she would have known what to do to make this better, to help Adam and Dana, to reunite the family…To make Blake love her the way he used to. Yet it seems the Krystle who could accomplish such miracles had never returned from that Swiss clinic, and no matter how hard she tried to convince herself that it was just her imagination she still couldn't shake the feeling that she had yet to really wake up.

However just because she couldn't perform miracles any longer didn't mean she was totally useless.

"Well there is no much either of us can do about that right now…but I can treat you to my Daddy's famous hot chocolate, guarantied to put a smile on any little girls face…Do we have a deal?" Krystle asked waiting until Dana cracked a smile and rose to join her, perhaps she wasn't so bad at this miracle working after all?

Part 5:

This was a lot harder than she remembered it being, of course that fact that Alexis accepted nothing less than perfection in her own creations wasn't making things any easier but even so it shouldn't be this hard. Yet as she forced herself to concentrate, glancing between the book she had 'borrowed' from Lauren's bedroom and the work of art that was very slowly taking form on the wall, very slowly, Alexis couldn't help but think that she hadn't gotten the slope of Winnie the Pooh's snout quite right. It was too short…

Cursing under her breath Alexis threw the brush down on her palette in her temper. Painting was supposed to help relieve her foul mood not exacerbate it!

Perhaps this had been a bad idea from the start, when she hadn't been able to fall asleep her mind too full of everything that had happened during the day Alexis had honestly thought making a start on her secret project might help calm her, or at least tire herself out enough to sleep. Yet is seemed nothing not even working on the finishing touches for Jack's new nursery could accomplish that, and Alexis felt the tears she had been suppressing all day bubble up behind her eyelids.

Steven was gone…

Her little boy, even if he was all grown up he was still her precious boy, he was suffering, suffering terribly and in many ways it was all her fault. If she hadn't reacted so dramatically to Blake breaking their engagement, if she hadn't been so wrapped up in her grief that she had actually considered ending her own life then Steven wouldn't have sworn revenge on Blake and sacrificed his own morals and peace of mind in the process.

"It was me Mother…I was the one passing on confidential information to Frank Dobson…I helped him sabotage Denver Carrington because I wanted to hurt Blake, to hurt him as deeply as he hurt you." Steven confided lifting his blue eyes to meet his mother's astonished gaze.

"But Steven you couldn't…" Alexis just couldn't accept what she was being told, Adam yes he had a track record of switching to the winning side but Steven, even when Blake had treated him terribly he had never sought revenge on his father for his own suffering…But someone else's…For her's, could Steven really have done such a thing?

Watching as the terrible truth finally sank in Steven pulled his gaze away from Alexis's unable to bear seeing that look of disgust in yet another pair of eyes. "I am sorry I am such a disappointment…But you had a right to know what a failure I am, a failure as a man, a son and a father…."

"Steven no, you could never disappoint me!" Alexis exclaimed pushing aside her shock and pulling her unresponsive son into her arms, rubbing her hands up and down his back as she tried to sooth him like she did when he was little. "Darling you're my son I love you and you are not a failure. You made a mistake, a terrible mistake but you're sorry now and that is all that matters. I forgive you Steven and your father will too eventually."

Burying his face into the curve of his mother's neck Steven barely restrained the sobs that wracked his body. "I don't deserve it."

Running her fingers through her son's thick blonde hair Alexis shushed him. "Yes you do, we've all done things we regret Steven, things we wish given a chance to do things over we would change but we can't. We just have to move on and try to make amends and do our best not to repeat our mistakes. Besides I am hardly one to talk, look at all the terrible things I have put our family through all in the cause of getting my revenge on Blake?"

Leaning into his mother's arms Steven soaked up the comfort she gave him greedily before finally pulling away when the clock on the mantelpiece began to strike the hour. "I really need to be going, I have a flight to catch…"

"You're leaving?"

Half smiling at the concern in his mother's voice Steven nodded. "Only for a little while, I know I can't run away from this but I need some time to get my head straight. A friend of mine from New York wants to take a trip and he needs someone to keep an eye on his business and apartment whilst he is away."

"And Danny?"

"That was the other reason I am here." Steven added guiltily. "You've opened your home to Fallon and her children and I was hoping that you would be happy to have Danny whilst I am away. I talked to Fallon and she is happy to look after him, he and LB go to the same school and they start back in a couple of weeks so its not like he will be underfoot much and…"

"Steven you don't need to convince me." Alexis chuckled reaching up to fix her son's hair where her stroking had mussed it up. "Danny is my grandson I am delighted to have him."

"Thank you." Steven answered softly leaning down to press a kiss to Alexis's cheek. "I'll call when I get there to let you know I'm home safe."

Steven had called just as they had been sitting down to dinner, Alexis's long dining table feeling both unusually full and painfully empty. The children had kept the room alive with their excited chatter and the innuendo ladened banter between Fallon and Jackson, once he deigned to arrive half way through the main course, had kept her amused. Yet there was a distinct Dex shaped hole in the gathering and as much as Alexis tried to ignore it, the nerves that churned in her stomach throughout the dinner robbed her of the remainder of her appetite.

Dex hadn't called to say he had made other plans, he hadn't answered the phone when she called his apartment and when after dinner Alexis called around the local hotels and a few of the places he would often frequent no one could recall seeing him all day. It was like he had dropped off of the face of the earth and after the last time, the terrible kidnapping and the fire; Alexis thought she had every reason to be worried.

Surely Dex would realise this?

Of course there was one other possibility one that Alexis refused to entertain longer than a few moments, that Dex knew precisely that his absence and silence would worry her senseless and that is was doing it on purpose to punish her for her indiscretion with Blake.

It was a cruel thought and not one that Alexis would normally consider Dex capable of but Dex had hardly been himself this past week. Instead of vocalising his pain and loosing his temper, storming about yelling and slamming doors like he normally would enabling them to have a good row to clear the air, Dex barely spoke at all. He seemed unable to look at her, at least when she was looking at him he couldn't. There were times she felt his gaze on her and Alexis would turn and catch a glimpse of a contorted expression on his face and pain in his dark eyes and she would try to reach out for him…

Whenever she touched him Dex stiffened and made an excuse to break away. He turned his back on her in bed whenever she so much as reached out and touched his arm and so Alexis had withdrawn afraid to confront him about it; afraid because of the great risk she would lose what little they had left. Was it any wonder with all this on her mind she couldn't sleep; instead slipping out of her empty bed and throwing herself into her secret project, the new nursery for Jack instead of the makeshift one he currently had.

This one was a proper double room, a large bright space for a playroom and a smaller bedroom off of it. What made it special was the hand painted mural that Alexis was working on in the bedroom, a surprise, a last ditch gesture to reach out to Dex and to show him just how much she wanted them here. Just the memory of Dex mentioning checking out the damage at his old apartment brought her out in a sweat, and Alexis couldn't shake the terrible thought that one day it might not just be her bed that was empty but that she might wander into the nursery and find Jack missing from his cot just like another son had vanished from his pram all those autumns ago. That once again she would loose a child without the chance to even say goodbye.

Dex wasn't sure what woke him, perhaps a car had backfired or perhaps it was because he had woken from a dream turning over and automatically reaching for Alexis only to come up with cold air and a god awful crick in his neck. Reaching up to massage out the crick in his next Dex couldn't help but feel disoriented, blinking his eyes as the reality of where he was slowly sank in. He wasn't in bed with Alexis, hell he wasn't even at Colby Acres. And slowly the memories came back to him…

After gathering a few possessions from his apartment Dex remembered he had decided to make it a clean sweep and instead of heading back to the ranch he had pointed his car in the direction of the pipeline site. He hadn't spent much time there in the last few months not since Alexis had waltzed back into his life and since gaining custody of Jack he hadn't ever stopped over night. Yet once upon a time he had spent a lot of time there and there were some of his possessions that he wanted back before whomever Marin appointed come along and threw everything out on the trash heap.

It had been hard to face and not a little humiliating when his previous employees looked at him with a mixture of commiseration and pity. Yet Dex knew he could have handled all that if he hadn't come across it when cleaning out his personal safe. Once upon a time he had thrown it in there in a mixture of grief and self-loathing unable to stand catching sight of such a blatant reminder of everything that he had lost and yet unwilling to part from it completely. Over the years when he had happened upon it when removing confidential documents Dex had often stared at it longingly. On occasion he actually removed it and rubbed the gold until it gleamed back at him, once he had even slipped it back on before quickly jerking it off again and slamming the door shut before violently emptying the contents of his stomach.

Yet now this simple gold band was more than a symbol of everything he had lost due to his own stupidity, it was a reminder that no matter how much it had meant to him it could never compare to the one Alexis placed on her first husband's finger. Blake always came first, she had always loved him better, deeper, longer and even during their marriage Dex had felt the shadow of Blake Carrington at his back. Back then he fought it every way he could and there were times that he actually thought he might be able to vanquish the hold Blake had on Alexis's heart for good.

He knew now just how foolish such thoughts could be.

Miserable and unable to dwell on anything other than how robbed he felt Dex hadn't been able to go straight home. The air in his car had seemed to press in on him and Dex had pulled off the road, parking up outside some roadside shack with cold beer and loud music. He had holed up there for most of the evening, slowly drinking a few beers and turning down any company until he felt pleasantly numb and able to face heading home. Except when he made it outside and hit the fresh air Dex realised just how many beers he had actually had.

He hadn't meant to fall asleep in his car. He had only meant to wait until he had felt sober enough to drive but clearly his inability to sleep more than cat naps in the last few days when combined with the alcohol was enough to knock him out completely. Rubbing his sore eyes and grimacing at the sour taste of fur in his mouth Dex finally caught sight of the clock set into the dashboard and groaned, it was well after two. Alexis was going to kill him.

For a moment Dex actually considered finding a motel and putting off his imminent demise until the morning but that would only be delaying the inevitable and besides Alexis would only have more energy to yell at him after a night's sleep. At worse if he returned now he might get a harangued for a few hours before being kicked out to sleep in a guest room. So ignoring the slow pounding behind his eyes Dex started the car and pulled out onto the road, grateful for the lack of traffic, as right now the glare of headlights would undoubtedly make his headache worse.

When he did arrive home Dex was feeling somewhat better as despite the alcohol still in his system he had actually gotten some sleep, something he hoped to continue after grabbing a glass of water and a couple of aspirin. Letting himself into the house Dex went first to the kitchen, then water in hand he wandered through the ranch not bothering to switch on any lights, navigating by memory alone until he reached the open door into the bedroom he shared with Alexis.

It was empty, the covers on the bed had been pulled back and Alexis's nightdress and robe lay on top. Reaching out Dex traced his fingers over the silky creation, enjoying the feel of it between his fingers, yet it was cool to the touch so Alexis had been gone for a while. Clenching the nightdress in his fist Dex couldn't help but be assaulted by different thoughts at once just as the scent of Alexis's perfume assaulted his nose. Where was she at this time of night? Was it business? Was she hurt or sick? Or was it one of the children or…

Was it Blake, had he called, had something happened whilst Dex had been off trying to sort out his own life? Was Alexis still cheating on him despite everything he had given up for her?

Shaking his head to try and suppress his irrational panic Dex couldn't help the anger that flowed through him before the remaining thread of common sense caused him to pause. He should at least check she wasn't in the house first before jumping to conclusions. Maybe Alexis hadn't been able to sleep, perhaps she was working in the study or with Jack…

Turning on his heel Dex stalked out into the hallway immediately crossing to his son's nursery, yet the darkened room and the sight of his son sleeping innocently in his cot was not enough to calm the rage that was beginning to seethe beneath Dex's skin. Striding down the hallway to find Alexis's study similarly empty of her presence only fed his growing anger and the warped visions in his mind took form. Alexis with Blake, writhing under his touch, calling out his name and Blake kissing her tenderly, kissing those lips…

Groaning as he sank to the floor and bashed his fists against his forehead Dex just wanted those images to stop, burrowing his head into the soft silk of Alexis's nightdress he could feel the tears coming, they burning behind his eyes. Tears he hadn't shed, grief and anger he had suppressed all bubbling over until he cried out in frustration.

"Dex?"

Alexis's soft voice sounded tentative and for a moment Dex was certain his warped imagination had conjured her.

"Dex dear god what's wrong are you hurt…What happened?" Alexis questioned shutting the door to her study behind her as she quickly moved to his side, crouching down as she ran her hands over the nape of his neck. "Dex Darling…"

Lifting his bloodshot eyes from the nightgown clutched tightly in his fists Dex refused to let himself be swayed by this show of tenderness and concern, his dark eyes taking in the loose shirt and shorts and the tussled state of Alexis's hair. She looked like she had either been dragged though a hedge backward or someone had shown her a good time, someone that clearly hadn't been him.

"Where have you been?" Dex demanded his voice gruff as he got to his feet, his strong hands closing on Alexis's shoulders as he pulled her with him.

"Where have I been, where the hell have you been is more the question!" Alexis snapped trying to wiggle free of Dex's iron grip. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I asked you first Alexis." Dex growled tightening his grip as he pushed her back against the closed door ignoring Alexis's squeak of protest.

"I've been here all night which is more than I can say for you Mr Dexter." Alexis hissed her eyes now burning as Dex at least had the decency to look momentarily wrong footed. "Now will you stop manhandling me?"

"Yeah because you always dress like that to lounge around the house." Dex spat back. "How much of an idiot do you think I am, it was Blake wasn't it, did the two off you have a romantic picnic complete with a roll in the hay?"

"You're being ridiculous."

"No I am done being a blind fool and I am done being your emotional punching bag Alexis. Well I refuse to be used by you, not again…" Dex ranted his tirade only cut off when Alexis raised her hand and slapped him hard across the cheek.

"Are you quite done making a fool of yourself?" Alexis demanded her emerald eyes flashing. "Are you going to give me a chance to even speak, or are you just going to keep jumping to one ridiculous conclusion after another?"

"I…"

"I'm not finished." Alexis cut in. "Now since you won't believe me perhaps if I show you what I have been doing, providing you let me go?"

Stunned by the vehemence and strength of her anger Dex felt a sliver of doubt enter his mind, and he let go of his iron grip on Alexis's shoulders watching as she shot him a death glare before opening the study door and storming off down the corridor.

"Mummy…" A sleepy looking Fallon asked appearing out of one of the many bedrooms as Alexis stormed passed with Dex on her heels. "I heard yelling is everything alright?"

"Everything is fine Fallon. Go back to sleep." Alexis snapped back waving her concerned daughter away, yet even in her anger Alexis took note of just whose room Fallon had appeared out of, it seemed her daughter and Jackson had moved beyond innuendo.

Following in Alexis's wake Dex barely glanced in Fallon's direction he was so focused on what could possibly explain Alexis's absence, yet even he couldn't contain his surprise when instead of heading outside Alexis took him past her bedroom and past Jack's nursery to the end of the corridor, where light could be seen spilling out from under the bottom of a closed door.

"Alexis?" Dex questioned as Alexis suddenly came to a halt and waved him towards the closed door.

"Well gone on in, all the answers are behind door number 3." Alexis drawled sarcastically her emerald eyes hard as flint and Dex found his own anger coiling in response to her less than appropriate humour.

"Fine!" Dex huffed his strong hand closing on the door handle, which he pushed open with a shove taking two steps into the room before his brain caught up with what his eyes were telling him. "Oh shit."

Leaning smugly against the doorframe Alexis didn't bother to contain her smirk as Dex turned round to face her his dark eyes wide with horror as the full realisation of what he had done sank in. "Oh shit indeed Mr Dexter."

Part 6:

Sinking back into the rumpled sheets Fallon tried to force herself to unwind, yet the sudden spike of adrenaline from being woken by the sound of yelling still coursed through her. In order to try and distract herself from her concerns Fallon let her eyes fall on Jackson's ripped torso as he kicked off the jeans he had pulled on a hurry on hearing Alexis's raised voice.

"Drink?" Jackson grunted the question as he fumbled with pouring his own scotch, his handsome face creased as he glared at the decanter as though it were to blame for his distraction.

"No thanks…" Fallon replied frowning herself when Jackson slammed the triple scotch back before reaching for another and pouring a sizeable measure. "Wow you got enough in their cowboy?"

Shooting Fallon a look over his shoulder Jackson settled for sipping at this drink before sinking into one of his easy chairs and not rejoining Fallon on the bed. The sound of raised voices in the middle of the night, of a woman screaming at her partner to let her go brought back some rather unpleasant memories. How often as child had he lain awake in the ramshackle cot he had long outgrown whilst his alcoholic whore of a mother had screamed abuse at whatever boyfriend she happened to have shacked up with this week? How often had those rows turned violent and he as a young boy had tried to hide under his old cot, his hands pressed to his ears to try and shut out the sound of his mother's screams and the sound of breaking furniture?

"Jackson?" Fallon's voice was tentative as she moved off of the bed and reached out to Jackson who seemed to be lost in his own world, and from the look on his face and the way it was contorted, it wasn't a happy place.

Fallon's touch on his arm jolted Jackson and he all but leapt out of his skin, grabbing Fallon's wrist only dropping it when she squeaked in surprise. "Sorry…" Jackson mumbled avoiding her gaze.

"That really bothered you didn't it?" Fallon asked ignoring Jackson's hunched shoulders and the blatant way he avoided her gaze. "I wouldn't worry too much, Mummy and Dex have always had a passionate relationship…They often argue…"

"Fallon I'm fine!" Jackson snapped, jumping up from his chair and pacing to the window. "Stop digging will you, I just don't like being woken up like that…Alexis is a smart woman she wouldn't go to such an effort if Dexter wasn't worth it." Jackson added, running his strong hands through his dark hair. "Look it's late Fallon shouldn't you be heading back to your room?"

"Well that was before." Fallon snorted in amusement. "I was trying to keep a low profile but since Mummy has already worked it out about us judging by the look she gave me earlier…"

"So Alexis suspects something…"

"Jackson they both saw me coming out of your room in my robe, I think they more than suspect something." Fallon teased crossing the room to thread her arms around Jackson's waist before nipping playfully at the tensed muscles in his broad shoulders, her playful mood suddenly evaporating when Jackson unwrapped her hands and placed some space between them.

"Still you really shouldn't be found here."

"Why not? I'm not ashamed of you, of us!" Fallon snapped her slight irritation at Jackson's brush off now growing rapidly into anger, which boiled under the surface. She was Fallon Colby nee Carrington, daughter of oil magnates Blake Carrington and Alexis Colby; she was a successful, beautiful, desirable woman. Any man should be flattered to be with her, should be proud to be seen as being with her, that Jackson seemed to be reluctant was an insult to her pride.

"There isn't an us Fallon, not really." Jackson retorted ignorant of the mounting fury behind him.

"Oh so I suppose sleeping together is what simply a perk of living under the same roof?" Fallon spat testily and this time Jackson did turn to stare at her his blue eyes burning into hers.

"I prefer to think of it as friends with benefits." Jackson retorted. "Look Fallon you're a fun girl and I enjoy sleeping with you, you're hot, but if you think there is more to this than that then I am sorry…" 

"Oh now you're sorry, after you got what you wanted…" 

"Funny I don't remember hearing you complaining at the time." Jackson snapped back. "Look it's been fun but perhaps we should call it a day, I mean in case it has slipped your memory Fallon you do have a husband?"

Flushing angrily Fallon refused to hang around a moment longer gathering her possessions. "Well thank you so much for reminding me, I can't imagine how that fact managed to slip my mind." She retorted sarcastically.

"Fine take the hump." Jackson answered softly shaking his head. "Take it out on me for daring to give the mighty Fallon Colby a reality check. Well I am sorry for pointing out the obvious Fallon but you are married, to a surprisingly decent guy, and despite what you would like to convince yourself you do still have feelings for him and besides I don't do relationships."

"Well how nice of you to finally clear that up for me."

"Hey lady I never implied otherwise, if you turned this into more that was all in your own head. People in relationships date, they have some interaction outside of the bedroom. I am only interested in fun, so if that is all you want then cool if not there are plenty more fish in the sea. Besides even if I was looking for a relationship you have two kids and that is some serious baggage."

Fallon didn't…couldn't find the words…didn't trust herself to speak she was literally shaking she was so angry as she stormed out, missing the conflicted expression on Jackson's face as he watched her leave. Yet all Fallon could think about was how very wrong she had been; she had been a fool to think that just because Jackson had shown some concern and had been an a fun companion that he could be more.

It had all a bit of fun to Jackson. She had just been a bit of fun…Yet as Fallon slammed her own door behind her and crossed the room to collapse on her own bed tears springing to her eyes if only it had just been a bit of fun to her...Fallon hadn't even realised it was happening until now it was over before it had even really begun, and she could only wonder now as her heart seemed to be aching just when she had fallen in love with a player like Jackson Hobbs?

Somehow there wasn't anything Dex could really think of to say, anything he did say would undoubtedly make things worse so instead he decided it was better to hold his tongue and examine the hard work Alexis had put into designing the perfect room for his son.

It was a beautiful room and during the day he was certain light would flood into the playroom. Walking around his hands lingered on the antique looking rocking horse which took pride of place, the low shelves perfect for a child which already held enough toys and books that Dex doubted he would need to buy Jack anything for the next few years let alone months. In the far corner there was a comfortable looking child sized rocking chair and to the left of it another door that stood ajar.

Pushing open the door Dex froze in the doorway, his eyes skimming over the lovely dark wood crib and wardrobe in the baby's bedroom complete with soft cream furnishings, before automatically being drawn to the half finished mural on the wall and the abandoned paint brush and palette.

"Surprise." Alexis added from over his shoulder, sarcasm dripping from her tone as Alexis wrapped her arms protectively around her waist.

"You were really painting that?" Dex asked softly, reverently, as he reached out his fingers ghosted across the figures that were slowly taking shape on the wall.

Perhaps it was because she was tired or perhaps it was a hangover from their little spat in her study but Alexis couldn't hold back her acerbic retort. "Well it was either me or the little elves that live in the skirting board, honestly Dex yes of course it was me, I did train to become a painter once upon a time."

"But it's so good." Dex answered softly. "It's beautiful."

Huffing slightly Alexis couldn't help but feel slightly mollified, muttering her thank you as she pushed past Dex, who was still admiring the unfinished work. Alexis began to pack away her equipment, not in the mood for any continuation of this conversation and feeling a little sour that her surprise had been ruined.

"I just…How did you think of doing this?" Dex asked his eyes now focused on Alexis as she shrugged and concentrated on cleaning her brushes.

"Well it is hardly rocket science, once upon a time I did the same for my other children, first Adam's and then I…Well when I became pregnant with Fallon I decided on a new nursery for my other children, a fresh start. Jack doesn't deserve any less just because he isn't biologically mine." Alexis answered simply, drying her brushes on a scrap of cloth, surprised when Dex crouched down and reached out, his strong tanned hand covering her smaller paint splattered one.

"I love it and Jack will too." Dex added softly his voice low and rough with emotion. "Thank you for doing this for him."

"I wanted to do it." Alexis answered lightly yet there was a slight waver to her voice. "I wanted to show you how much you are both wanted here. To realise that this is your home too."

"I do now." Dex answered throatily his dark eyes locking with Alexis's as she raised her gaze to meet his, the uncertainty in her eyes making his heart clench.

Leaning forward Dex couldn't resist pressing his lips against her forehead, a sudden dam breaking inside him as Alexis choked back a sob and leant into his embrace, burrowing her face into his chest and his arms automatically came up to cradle her against him. Alexis just felt so warm and wonderful in his arms. She was here, she was real, she was with him, and in a nursery she had designed and put together for their son, somewhere in which the shadow of Blake Carrington couldn't follow them. Tightening his hold on her Dex felt Alexis's arms slide round him and hug him back just as closely.

"It's going to be alright…We're going to be alright." Dex whispered softly, a soft smile easily sliding on to his lips as Alexis tilted her head up to stare at him.

"Promise?"

Pressing a chaste kiss to her lips Dex pulled away running his fingers across Alexis's cheek his smile growing as Alexis sighed and leant into his caress. "Why don't we head back into your room and you let me prove it to you?"

Sometimes Ben Carrington wondered what perverse amusement God got from tormenting him. One moment handing him everything he wanted on a platter and the next jerking it away from him. The almighty had a rather cruel sense of humour. Although there were some people that might argue that it was karmic payback.

He had been born the son of a wealthy man…Well the son of a man who had made his fortune by marrying the only heir of a wealthy family, yet Tom Carrington had taken his wife's fortune and turned it into an even bigger fortune so people tended to forget about his more humble origins. Tom Carrington seemed to have been similar a victim of the Almighty's sense of humour, as although Tom had been successful in business his crimes had been personal. He had poorly treated his long suffering wife making her suffer through affair after affair and so it seemed his karmic payback was never to have another successful relationship with woman, no one who he could love and who could love him back with a fraction of the depth of feeling that his wife had held for him.

It seemed his father's bad luck with women had extended to Ben; he had lost the only two women he had really ever loved, both casting him aside for good riddance. His children wanted little to do with him and as for business…

Well every endeavour of his own seemed doomed to eventually failure, either he got to greedy and tried to overextend himself, or a sure fire way to make his fortune became a dry hole in the ground. So was it little wonder that having left Denver unable to keep living with daily reminders of his own shortcomings when faced with his elder brother's success, that Ben decided to follow in his father's footsteps.

If he couldn't make a fortune himself, there was nothing to stop him marrying into one?

Camilla Hailsworth was everything he was looking for. Ten years older than himself, she had recently been widowed by her elderly husband, her second husband had been an oil tycoon who had given her the finest set of diamonds to be found in the Northern territory and the controlling share of Hailsworth Oil. It had been a perfect arrangement for them both, Camilla was alone and had no experience of running anything other than a dinner party and her only living relative was her absentee son from her first marriage and he was off studying geology in South America of all places and had no interest in helping out.

Ben needed the protection that only an old name could provide, someone who would happily expunge his debts that he had once racked up in Australia before fleeing to Denver. Yet Camilla didn't just provide him with security and an oil company to play with, she became his confident and biggest supporter. In the few years of their marriage Ben could not say that he came to love her but he did become deeply fond of the woman that was his wife; he respected her, which was something that was true of few people. In fact everything had been near perfect until a routine check up picked up a rather vicious strain of cancer of the lymph nodes.

The next few months had been a whirlwind of tests and treatment and Ben watched his wife grow older and sicker in front of his eyes until one day she called time on the whole business and a few days later she was dead. It had been a shock yet Ben had tried to continue as normal, until the will reading had firmly pulled the wool out from under him. Camilla had left him money, enough money to live well for the rest of his life, their house was his but the company shares went to that ungrateful brat of a son of hers. A man who hadn't even bothered to return home to attend her funeral and who without a second thought sold his controlling shares in Ben's company to some faceless multinational conglomerate.

Now Ben had to consult over every decision he made, he was bullied into overstretching his company to go after these South Korean leases and everyday he failed to get through to Colby Co to organise the start up of operations was costing him a fortune. And now to make matters worse Davenport Inc were sending him a babysitter, some baby faced executive who probably knew as much about running an oil company as he did about wiping his own arse.

Pacing around his own boardroom Ben only came to a halt as the door suddenly opened and in walked his new jailor. He was older than he expected, probably mid forties, with dark piercing eyes and black hair greying at the temples which was smoothed back neatly from his tanned handsome face, a face that for some reason seemed familiar and yet Ben couldn't quite put his finger on it…

"You must be Ben Carrington." The stranger commented from the doorway an amused smirk playing about his lips as he confidently shut the door him behind.

"I am and who the hell might you be?"

Gasping in surprise the stranger feigned a hurt expression. "You wound me sir, what with us being family and all I would have expected you to recognise me…" 

"What family?" Ben blustered his irritation quickly reaching apoplectic proportions when the stranger shrugged and moved to take the seat at the head of the table, settling down like he owned the place. "Who the hell are you?"

Smiling broadly the younger man stretched out like a cat, reaching up and linking his hands behind his head. "You can call me Ethan Hailsworth, I do believe you knew my mother?"


	4. Episode 4: The Exhibition

Episode 4: The Exhibition

Part 1:

Sometimes Dana wondered what it was she had ever seen in Adam Carrington?

Back in high school he had been the handsome, brooding loner; an intellectual in a town surrounded by farmers and a social hierarchy dominated by jocks. All through Middle School and at the beginning of High School there was no one who could knock Adam Carrington off of his pedestal although many jocks certainly tried and learnt to understand why no one messed with that weird Torrance kid. And whilst the guys tried their best to destroy him the girls…well the girls looked on for different reasons.

Adam, or Michael as she knew him back then, had always been handsome, with bright blue eyes he eventually grew into his chiselled features and square jaw, his lanky frame filled out a little in the summer before High School and suddenly more than just Dana looked at Michael Torrance in appreciation. Yet he was still the school geek, the one with perfect attendance, grade and diction. So even if he seemed a tantalising living embodiment of Heathcliff the girls had simply looked and stayed with the far safer farmers and Jocks and Michael didn't seem to even notice.

And then suddenly in Junior year something seemed to happen to him. The straight A student would turn up late to class, or sometimes he would barely show up at all, when he did his eyes would be bloodshot and his speech often slurred. Other times Michael would seem manic as if he had ingested way too much sugar before suddenly slumping back down and you would be lucky to get more than a grunt out of him. It all came to head one afternoon in English class when Michael seemed to go into some sort of a fit, he screamed out that people were trying to hurt him, strange creatures that weren't even in the room.

Dr Edwards had came and taken him away after that. No one at school heard much of what happened to him until the following term when a much thinner and more subdued Michael returned to class. He refused to talk about anything other than his schoolwork, withdrawing even more into himself than ever before. His grades picked back up quickly and once more things seemed to return to normal, well as normal as High School ever was.

The only time Dana ever saw any passion in Michael Torrance's face was when he could occasionally be drawn into talking about the future, about college. Michael was going somewhere; he was going to be somebody that Dana knew in her bones. Unlike the rest of them he was going to get out of this one horse town and never come back, make something of his life. He would forget everything about them discarding them as a butterfly does his cocoon, never looking back, he would go on to be something special.

Looking back perhaps that had been why she had acted the way she did, one mindless act that she would ultimately regret for the rest of her life just because the idea of Michael Torrance leaving Billings behind not even knowing her name cut deeper than it should have. She had just wanted to have one place in his life, one memory that he couldn't just push aside as he went on to his big bright future and she was left behind' with nothing more than secretarial college and wondering when her nice but somewhat dim boyfriend Timmy would finally ask her to marry him.

Prom night was supposed to be one of the nights a girl could look back on with pride. Dana's prom was anything but proud. At first things went according to plan, she had a beautiful new blue dress that her Mom and Aunts had clubbed together to buy her. Timmy had shown up in his father's truck, all neat in his rented tuxedo and having actually remembered to buy her a corsage, that it was pink and clashed a little with her dress Dana could forgive.

The first dance had gone well, as had the others after that, until someone spiked the punch and an hour later Dana had found Timmy with his tongue down that slapper Mary-Jane's throat round the back of the gym. She had shouted and stormed off like every respectable young lady should do when confronted with their cheating boyfriend. Somehow she had ended up back at some unsupervised party out on one of the farms drinking straight from the bottle as she wandered out to one of the barns. That was where she found Michael, alone with half a bottle of whiskey under his belt staring up at the stars through the hole in the roof.

They hadn't really done much talking; Dana had always been a little shy of talking around the walking brain that was Michael Torrance. She had simply sat next to him and stared up at the sky, listening as he occasional called out the names of the constellations or talked about the future. Michael hadn't seemed to want any response, he was simply happy to have an audience, until after a long silence had fallen he had finally turned to her, had actually looked at Dana, looked so deeply it was almost like he was looking into her. His blue eyes normally so bright seemed dark and full of pain and he seemed to need something desperately.

"_Do you think they can really see us?"_

"_Who?" Dana whispered nervously, her nerves only growing as Michael turned away from her as if disappointed his gaze returning to the heavens._

"_The dead…My parents, I just wonder sometimes if they really are up there looking down on me, watching everything that we do."_

"_I don't know, I like to think that people we love watch over us but not all the time…I mean it might be a little creepy otherwise." Dana tried to joke._

"_I just wonder if they do…If they see everything…If they can ever be proud of me after seeing what I've done." Michael added as if Dana hadn't spoke, taking another deep sip of his whiskey before as if realising for the first time he had a guest and offering Dana a swig._

"_No thanks."_

_Shrugging Michael stared at her, tilting his head. "That's a pretty dress."_

"_Thank you, I like it. My Mom saved for months…" Dana blushed unable to keep the embarrassment from her cheeks. "It's only been us for a while now, my Dad left town a few years ago so we have to work hard to make ends meet, but Mom knew how much I wanted a pretty dress, so she saved all her tips."_

"_It must be nice to have a mother who loves you that much." Michael answered wistfully, his eyes darkening even further. "I have no memory of my mother, sometimes when I dream I think I remember her, or at least the memory of being held by her and feeling safe and happy."_

"_I'm sure she loved you very much, both your parents, I bet they would be very proud of you. I mean what parent wouldn't, valedictorian for the graduating class, your grandmother must be so proud?"_

_That was clearly the wrong thing to say as Michael's face seemed to tighten and lose whatever openness there had been there a moment before, and he took a long swing of his whiskey. "Yeah she's real proud of her little prince."_

"_I heard you got accepted to Yale on a scholarship, that's really something…"_

"_Partial scholarship." Michael replied. "It only covers part of the tuition fees we still need to find the rest and there is living expenses and money for books…"_

"_But still you'll be getting out of here. I guess you won't be coming back…You'll be missed."_

_Snorting as he downed the rest of the bottom Michael turned and stared at her, his blue eyes slightly unfocused. "Yeah like anyone in this sink hole actually gives a damn about me."_

"_I do." Dana's reply was so hesitant and softly spoken that she was even certain Michael had heard her. "I'll miss you."_

"_You will?" The surprise was clear in his voice as was something else, even under the slur of the alcohol the hope was evident in his tone. "You really mean that?_

"_Yeah…I always thought…I…I always liked you." Dana answered edging closer to him her hand tentatively reaching out to rest on his chest over his heart; she could feel it pounding wildly beneath her palm._

"_But no one ever likes me." Michael murmured. "All I ever wanted was people to like me…Someone who would love me for me…No one ever wants me not really."_

"_I like you Michael…I want you." Dana whispered watching as those hypnotic blue eyes locked on her own pulling her in closer giving her courage as she reached over and covered his lips with her own. Kissing him tentatively Dana almost pulled back when Michael seemed to freeze under her yet at the last minute she felt his hesitant touch on her hair as he pulled her lips back to his. _

That night she had been his first kiss and they had been each other's first lover. It had been awkward and yet perfect and Dana had been reluctant to leave a slumbering Michael in the hay but she was already out way past her curfew. So she had left him there kissing his brow before she left, her perfect sleeping prince. Of course part of her had been afraid of staying, afraid that if she waited until he woke then Michael might reject her. It seemed more fitting to keep it as one perfect memory, one thing that was hers and no one else's.

Of course that might have worked if that one night hadn't had rather more lasting consequences.

"Dana…Dana are you even listening to me?"

Shaking her head Dana glanced up from her vanity mirror to see Adam scowling down at her.

"Sorry Adam I was just lost in thought, you were saying?"

"I was saying if you don't hurry up we are going to be late and you know how Mother hates it if we are late."

Stifling her sigh Dana resisted the urge to sharply retort that for a woman who despised lateness in others Alexis surely didn't practice what she preached. Instead she fixed a smile on her face, her disappointment only growing, as Adam didn't even notice just how fake it really was.

"Sure let's not keep the great Alexis Colby waiting."

"You know we really don't have to go to this exhibition, we could stay in and…" Dex trailed off a smile tugging at his lips as he heard Alexis call out from her dressing room.

"And what?"

"And continue where we left of last night…and this morning if my memory serves me." Dex replied teasingly, relieved when Alexis's chuckle seemed to echo off of the walls and warmed a part of him that he hadn't even realised had gotten so cold. It was good to hear her laugh with him again. Hell anything that wasn't Alexis yelling at him was a definite plus.

"Sorry Dex but I did promise to open the exhibition remember, considering I got strong-armed into funding it by your little red headed friend the least I can do is show up and enjoy a glass of the champagne I paid for. Besides who knows maybe tonight we'll uncover some future grand artist and I will have the credit of giving them their first big break."

"Stranger things have happened." Dex quipped back tugging on his tuxedo jacket as he resigned himself to not getting his own way and dragging Alexis into bed with him. Instead he wandered towards the open door, leaning against the doorframe watching as Alexis put the finishing touches to her outfit.

"You look beautiful."

Smiling Alexis looked up and caught Dex's gaze in the mirror, it was wonderful to see him really smile again. The last few weeks had been a terrible strain on Dex, on their relationship but somehow despite everything they seemed to be making it through. There were still times that Dex shut down on her, when he would vanish mysteriously out on one of the horse's or in his car but what was important was that he always came back and that when he did Dex came back to her.

"Thank you Darling…I am almost done here I promise." Alexis replied teasingly as Dex pointedly glanced at his watch before crossing the room to stand behind her, his hands sliding about her slender waist as he moulded their bodies together.

Pressing a kiss to the slope of her neck Dex eyes were alight with mischief. "You know since we are going to be late anyway…" Dex teased his fingers tugging at the zip of her champagne satin dress.

"No."

"No?" Dex wheedled pouting as Alexis slapped his hands away and fiddled with her hair for the final time before picking up her purse.

"Dex did you remember to pick up the invitation like I asked you?"

"Yes Dear." Dex sighed patting his pocket, which felt slightly fuller than expected but as he went to reach inside Alexis's hand closed on his and he smiled as Alexis threaded her fingers through his and tugged him impatiently towards the door.

"Come on Dex if you're a really good boy all night I'll let you unzip me later I promise…"

Pausing as if to consider her offer Dex burst out laughing when Alexis scowled at his flippant comment. "In the limo on the way back or no deal."

"We'll see, that depends on how good a boy you are?"

Winking cheekily as the pair departed and Dex flipped off the light. "Lady you already know how good I am!"

Part 2:

Fallon Carrington enjoyed a good party, be it cocktail or a full on soiree, after all she was somewhat of a dab hand at organising them herself but even Fallon had to admit when it came to shaking things up in Denver's sometimes staid society circles Alexis Colby was one on her own. Only her mother would consider inviting such a mix of people.

Oh there was the usual society faces but when you added in the young artists, then a touch of spice of New York fashionistas, mix in a few European minor royals and a few bicoastal magnates and finish with sprinkling of Hollywood glamour. Even Fallon's head turned when she caught sight of the bright white smile of a certain Mr Redford as he chattered to a clearly star struck young artist who could only stutter out his reply.

The art on the walls was really only an excuse to be here, an excuse for the rich to flaunt their wealth and connections all in the name of supporting the struggling artists of Colorado State. Of course the real reason anyone was here was to see and be seen after all when Alexis Colby threw a party it was bound to make headlines.

Not that Fallon was in much of a mood to be seen. At least not with the date she had managed to scrounge up at the last minute, thank god she had lost him before his mind numbing conversation actually succeeded in putting her to sleep. Of course things would have been a hell of a lot more fun she was here with Jackson, listening to him take pot shots at the overly inflated egos all around him.

Yet Jackson seemed determined to stick by his just a bit of fun decision and there was no way Fallon was going to be the one to back down, even if damn the man he was one of the best she had ever had. So what if the sex was good, no great, he was a damn player and she was worth more than just being the latest notch on someone's bedpost. Was it asking too much to have a man who both loved her and was able to keep the spark going?

Watching as the crowd parted and her mother strolled in hand in hand with Dex Fallon tried to contain the flash of jealousy. She wasn't deluded like Amanda and she certainly wasn't in love with Dex, but she could at least now understand what her little sister had found so attractive; it wasn't Dex himself, although he was handsome and judging by the canary smile her mother had been wearing the last few days wasn't lacking in the bedroom either. No it was the way that when Alexis was in the room Dex couldn't keep his eyes off of her, she was the focus of his attention whether they were together or not; it must be heady to experience such devotion.

Of course Dex wasn't the only one watching Alexis Colby, at any one time there were several men's eyes following her mother as she sashayed about greeting old friends before Dex was able to drag her off onto the dance floor. Yet it was one pair of sad dark eyes that caught her attention and feeling a pang of her own Fallon lifted two glasses of champagne from a passing waiter before making her way over.

"I don't think I need to possess psychic powers to guess what is on your mind right about now." Fallon whispered softly yet still her swift arrival caused her companion to start, his sad eyes lightening with a flicker of warmth and mirth.

"Hello sweetheart you look beautiful." Blake greeted his daughter with a kiss to her porcelain cheek his proud gaze taking in the strapless floor length blue gown that matched the colour of her eyes perfectly.

"And you look very handsome to Daddy, so handsome in fact I am surprised to see you standing here all by yourself, surely some young thing has tried to whisk you off onto the dance floor."

Chuckling deeply Blake shook his head, his tanned faced crinkling with mirth. "Well perhaps they all heard what a clumsy dancer I really am." Blake teased jovially his pleasant mood slipping slightly when his gaze drifted over to the dancing couples and he watched Dex lean down and whisper in Alexis's ear the younger man's hand certainly not staying in the small of her back and Blake could only imagine what sordid little suggestions Dexter was coming up with.

"You know you could go over and cut in?" Fallon commented her innocent expression marred only by the slight smirk that pulled at her lips.

Snorting derisively Blake tore his gaze away. "And what good would that do Fallon, your mother has made her choice and I am not it, and can you really blame her after everything that happened?"

Biting her lip Fallon wanted to be able to say yes but knowing exactly what Alexis had gone through she couldn't lie even to herself. "No, but Daddy…"

"No buts Fallon." Blake cautioned his daughter an indulgent smile slowly spreading over his face. "Now I know you mean well, and I know you can't bear to see me this unhappy but I brought it on myself. Besides I don't want to interfere in Alexis's life, they look happy and I have hurt your mother enough for one life time."

"Sure they look happy." Fallon muttered bitterly. "But appearances can be deceptive, they were yelling pretty loud the other night…" She added conveniently missing out the fact that since then the pair seem to be more loved up than ever.

Shakes his head Blake sipped his champagne collecting his thoughts before confiding softly his tone almost whistful. "I made Alexis a promise, I chose to let her go, I set her free because I wanted her to be happy and if she comes back to me it will because she wants to, because she has chosen me over Dexter and not because I did something underhand to break them up…And that goes doubly for you Fallon, just let them be, if your mother and I are meant to be then we'll find each other again. I mean look at California who would have thought back then we would find each other again after so many years of fighting?"

"Well I might have had a little hand in that." Fallon sniggered sipping on her own champagne and choosing to ignore her father's chiding gaze. "Oh alright I won't interfere…You really must love her…"

"More than anything, and it has taken loosing her to realise how much." Blake replied his gaze distant as he seemed to stare off into nothing not even realising he was still speaking his tone so soft that Fallon had to lean in to catch his words.

"It was so hard to move on after our first marriage but back then I had my anger and Denver Carrington and I just tried my best to forget the good times. That with all the bad press you mother collected over the years, something that I am certain looking back Joseph had made a point to leave out…Well somehow that fuelled it, kept that anger burning. Then when she came back to Denver I had already moved on, well I had made a decision to move on and put her behind me; then suddenly she was back and wherever I turned there she was, in the mansion, in the gardens, visiting me at my office." Blake paused with a sigh as he clenched his fists.

"I had to keep my distance, I was married to someone else but she was always there taunting me, smirking at me and teasing me. Back then Alexis was the one pursuing me so I suppose my ego had reassured me that if I ever did change my mind…" Blake trailed off guiltily, surprised when he met Fallon's gaze and there was no censure only understanding.

"That she would always be there?" Fallon supplied all to easily, oh that feeling she could understand, not the taunting but the confidence, the reassurance that could be gained from knowing no matter what someone would always be waiting for you to change your mind. How different was her father's arrogant presumption to the way she had treated Jeff over the years?

"I had a happy marriage with Krystle and Alexis was my past and she was supposed to stay there, I honestly expected her to leave Denver after a few months, of course I had reckoned without your mother's tenacity."

"And Cecil Colby." Fallon added glibly pleased when at least this broke Blake from his trip down memory lane.

"Oh Cecil knew exactly what he was doing, arming your mother like that." Blake added almost amused as he looked back at their many scraps. "Who can blame me for being so unprepared to fall in love with her again? It came out of nowhere, or at least it seemed to at the time and I had no defences prepared. Of course I realise now that I had never really cut her out of my heart like I once thought. All I had done was barricade those feelings away and refuse to face them."

"And now?"

Sighing deeply Blake's eyes drifted back the dance floor, and he watched as Alexis laughed and rested her head against Dexter's shoulder, not even noticing Blake himself was less than twenty feet away. "Now the tables have turned and I finally realise how heart wrenching it is to see someone you love with someone else, but because you love them you have to give them a chance to be happy and right now I know I cannot be the one to make Alexis happy so…"

"So?" Fallon prompted when her father faltered. "Daddy you can't just give up?"

"Give up?" Blake scoffed his face suddenly alight and determined. "Who said anything about giving? No I have to find something else to do with my life. Something else to give me purpose."

Choking back tears Fallon had to admit, "That sounds like a good plan, after all you can't force someone to love you", no matter how badly you might wish you could was added silently.

Yet Blake knew his daughter well and could pick up on the bitterness in her tone, reaching out he cupped her chin and added teasing. "Now where is that bright smile I love, I won't have my beautiful daughter feeling sorry for me."

Forcing a smile Fallon smiled back her fake smile becoming more genuine as Blake added. "Well how would the loveliest young lady in the room to join him on the floor?"

"Young? Daddy perhaps it is time you got your eyes checked?" Fallon teased yet she gratefully accepted her father's invitation laughing as he replied.

"Fallon compared to me you will always be a babe in arms."

Perhaps it was malicious of him, but Dex could feel the weight of Blake's gaze on them as they danced. Perhaps that was why he was a little more demonstrative than he normally would be in public, more possessive than Alexis normally approved of but despite Alexis's reassurances that things were over between them and Blake had agreed to let her go Dex couldn't shake off the feeling that Carrington wasn't being entirely honest.

Perhaps it was because in Blake's situation Dex knew exactly what he would be doing. As long as Alexis didn't consider the man a threat then Blake was still a part of her life, close enough that if Dex slipped or they fought he would be able to provide a shoulder for Alexis to cry on. Somehow he doubted Blake was or would ever be over Alexis and he would always be there waiting for his opportunity to steal her back.

Well Dex just had to make sure he never got one.

"Earth to Dex." Alexis's teasing voice jarred him back to reality and Dex forced a smile as he stared down into Alexis's disbelieving face. "Don't try and kid a kidder Dex a moment ago you were down right scowling, what's wrong?"

"Nothing it's just…" And then a familiar flicker caught the corner of his eye, providing him with the excuse he needed. "My sister just arrived."

"Marin here?" Alexis snorted craning her head to make out Dex's sister dark head through the sea of people. "Are you sure?"

"Well she just swanned in bold as brass on some nobody's arm." Dex muttered sarcastically. "I just wish I knew what she was hanging about in Denver for, the board meeting is over and she always moaned how much she loathed the city…I just don't trust her."

"Whatever it is she is probably up to no good." Alexis agreed before reaching up and tugging on his collar. "But worrying about it won't help, come on we'd better act social and mingle, we haven't even looked at the paintings yet."

"Do we have to?" Dex groaned, next to a conversation with his sister Dex considered staring at and trying to understand modern art to be the next worst form of social torture. "Why don't you go and look and I'll wait for you over at the bar and…"

"Oh no Mr Dexter." Alexis chided her fingers tightening on his arm as Dex made a feeble attempt to escape. "You promised to be a good boy tonight, and good boys come and make nice with the artists."

"And good boys get rewarded right?" Dex finished for her suggestively wiggling his eyesbrows.

"That depends how good they are." Alexis teased tapping his chest. "Do you have the gallery listing it was in the envelope with the invitation?"

Huffing Dex resigned himself to at least an hour of being bored out of his brain sliding his hand into his pocket he quickly found the programme and invitation but his explorations found something else as well. There inside was more than just the slim invitation he had slipped in, another bulkier envelope sat in the bottom of his pocket. Pulling it out Dex couldn't help but scowl as the memory of just where this letter had come from came suddenly flooding back.

"Dex Darling is everything alright, you look like you've seen a ghost?" Alexis asked her eyes flickering between Dex's suddenly pale face and the mysterious envelope in his hands. "What is it did you forget something?"

Shaking his head Dex stared down at the familiar looping handwriting, his full name standing out starkly in his father's handwriting. It was the letter from the will reading, the one the lawyer had given him after he had turned down that outrageous offer, he had simply stuffed it into the pocket of his tuxedo at the time. The letter he had forgotten about since and the one now that he had no desire to open.

Why should he? There was nothing he so called father could say to him now that he wanted to hear. The pitiful excuses of a man who had turned his back on his own son and all the blood sweat and tears Dex had invested in building up the family business just because he objected to his choice of partner.

Handing over the programme Alexis requested Dex resigned himself to putting that letter and anybody other than his son who went by the name Dexter firmly behind him. They were part of his past and had nothing to do with his future; there wasn't anything they could do to hurt him any more. So before he could change his mind Dex scrunched it up in his hand and tossed into the nearest waste bin, ignoring Alexis's questioning gaze as he pulled her towards the nearest painting.

"It wasn't anything of any importance."

Part 3:

Art had never been an area of particular interest; besides it wasn't as if Billings had a gallery to speak of and even if it had Adam had been far to busy trying to claw his way out of that cow town to waste precious study time gazing at abstract globules of paint that looked nothing like the subject matter it was supposed to represent. Art was something that existed elsewhere, in far flung foreign places where rich people who had more money than sense needed to justify wasting millions in the name of so called good taste

Of course that had changed somewhat when he had first moved to Denver, when Adam had shot to being a part of that upper class set; a set that in reality he had little preparation or training for. Adam could hold his own when discussing business, or law or even literature, old mother Torrance had had a personal love of great literature and poetry and had drilled them into her reluctant grandson without mercy. Yet when it came to classical music and great art Adam had realised quickly how out of his comfort zone he was, a fact only exacerbated when he discovered his birth mother's own artistic talents.

So in part to fit in with his new social circle and not be shown up by his oh so perfect younger siblings, and part to try and bond with Alexis Adam had taken to studying books on famous artists. His keen eye and almost perfect memory proved an invariable tool and before long Adam was able to pride himself on being to tell on sight seminal works by famous artists. Yet it was learning by rote and although Adam knew he could identify art that didn't help him understand it one bit.

So this type of evening, surrounded by the upper set and dozens of pieces of work from young unknown artists was close to Adam's idea of hell. There were no cliffs notes to guide him what he should think about these paintings and so whenever anyone asked his opinion on this painting or that sculpture Adam found he could only smile politely and comment that it was very interesting.

And still even his less than informative comment was still more than Dana had contributed to the discussion. She had barely opened her mouth all evening, a polite yet blatantly false smile on her face as she stood there mute forcing Adam to deal with every question. It was stretching his already strained patience to breaking point and Adam found himself gazing longingly at the bar over the current socialite's shoulder, a double whiskey would be just thing to take the edge of his boredom.

"You know if the wind changes Carrington your face may end up stuck like that." A familiar Wyoming drawl jarred him from his reverie and Adam twisted round quickly to stare into the smirking face of Marin Dexter.

"Miss Dexter."

"Mr Carrington." Marin openly mocked Adam's formality her dark eyes scanning over the handsome Carrington heir before resting on the beautiful woman standing by his side, enjoying the rabbit in the headlight look that marred her otherwise striking blue eyes.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your…friend?" Marin added her eyes glinting mischievously as she deliberately stumbled over the world friend, watching as Dana winced slightly.

Coughing Adam shifted awkwardly. "Dana may I introduce Marin Dexter."

"Charmed." Marin muttered falsely sweet as she shook Dana's hand. "I am sorry I didn't catch your surname?"

"Waring." Dana replied softly her instinct only confirmed when this Marin women smile grew and Dana was almost certain that the other woman's dark eyes seemed to flicker down to her left hand which was conspicuously free of any rings, wedding or otherwise.

"Enjoying the finger painting?" Marin asked her attention now focused solely on Adam who seemed to be enjoying the reprieve from polite small talk.

"It is interesting." Adam replied diplomatically unable to completely contain the amusement in his voice as Marin smirked and raised an eyebrow mockingly.

"Interesting…" Marin muttered her dark eyes glinting. "That is one word for it I suppose."

"And you have another?"

"I have several but I doubt any of them would be appropriate for this group of fine fellows." Marin retorted enjoying the sudden burst of laughter that even the mighty Adam Carrington couldn't suppress.

"You're not enjoying the exhibition?" Dana cut in bravely yet when two pairs of eyes turned on her, so different in colour yet the look of disdain was so similar it caused her to shiver.

"It is just another society event." Marin sneered raising her elegant shoulders, her simple off the shoulder white designer dress slipping and exposing more of her fabulous tan. "My escort has taken off to go 'look' at the paintings. So I find myself without a gentleman to get me a drink." Marin added fluttering her eyelashes at Adam who found himself almost charmed by her cheek.

"Champagne?"

Smiling Marin nodded watching as Adam turned to push through the crowd. "Oh unless you come across someone else's scotch you can swipe, I seem to have gotten something of a taste for it." Marin called out teasingly laughing herself as Adam turned back and rolled his eyes before heading to get her order.

Feeling the accusing eyes of Dana on her Marin pasted her most charming smile on her lips before turning back to the blonde her dark eyes twinkling mockingly as if daring the other woman to react. "You don't mind me borrowing Adam do you Dana? I mean it's not like you were really using him now were you?"

The evening was definitely a success. The turnout had been impressive even for one of her events and Alexis wasn't sure whether it was that the gossips were hoping for some sort of public scene between Blake and Dex or that it was simply a slow summer?

Regardless of anyone else's motive Alexis was one of the few people that had really come for the art. She hadn't been joking when she had said earlier to Dex that she had hopes of uncovering some great talent of the future. That had been her whole motive for investing in the university's art's facilities in the first place.

Perhaps it was having her grandchildren under her roof or perhaps it was her involvement in Jack's life but lately Alexis had been considering her legacy. Not in a morbid obsessed with her own mortality way but other than her family and few socialites, oh and most of the oil business Alexis knew there were few people who would really remember her as she truly was.

Was it too much to ask that her name be known for more than her scandalous love life and her impact on the male dominated world of the oil industry? Once upon a time Alexis had wanted to be known throughout the art world for her own skill with a brush. Well since that dream was not to be there was no harm in being known as the power behind somebody else's rise to popularity.

Her desire to erase Sable's lingering legacy, as the only Colby known in the art world had nothing to do with it…

Almost nothing…

Well it might have paid a small part in her decision to fund the Alexis Colby Arts building at the university…

Still as she climbed the spiral staircase to the mezzanine floor which had fewer guests circulating probably because it was further from the dance floor and the bar. Dex had begged off having to look at yet more paintings and instead pleaded the need to use the bathroom although Alexis guessed that the bar was more likely a destination. Still Alexis couldn't hold it against him; he had done his best to at least look interested whilst she had dragged him around the ground floor.

However as she wandered through the few remaining sections of the exhibit Alexis found herself drawn to one particular piece. It hadn't been hung particularly well, which was a shame because the use of colour could have been much better brought out by proper lighting. Yet there was no denying the elegant lines or the growing confidence of the artist that seemed to spring from the canvas.

It was rough but there was something there…something primal and Alexis found her pulse quicken with excitement. The curve of the reclining nudes back seemed so lifelike that Alexis had to stifle the urge to reach out and stroke the smooth lines. This was just the sort of picture that would sit perfectly in her new boudoir when it was finally finished.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" A smooth baritone whispered reverently from behind, the accent an unusual transatlantic mixture.

"Yes it is." Alexis answered softly unable to draw her eyes away even to glance back at her fellow art enthusiast.

"It reminds me a little of something by Matisse…the use of colour is exceptional."

"Hmmm." Alexis answered her quick eyes picking up what her companion had noticed.

"I think this young man bears watching don't you think?"

"Oh yes." Alexis answered softly. "And maybe a little influence of Manguin don't you think?" She added turning around in surprise when this time no answer was forthcoming. Glancing down the length of the gallery there was no one standing nearby, she was alone and Alexis couldn't shake off the sudden chill that prickled her exposed skin.

Gathering herself Alexis glanced down at the programme in her hand, quickly making a note of the number for this painting before hurrying back to join a party. Sliding through the crowd it wasn't difficult to catch sight of Angela's bright red hair; she was standing near the entrance her pretty face flushed with all the excitement.

"Mrs Colby…Alexis!" Angela exclaimed when she caught sight of Alexis, pulling the stunned billionairess into a hug. "Have you seen the turnout, oh my god this has been wonderful, I have already taken over two hundred thousand in donations and over a dozen paintings have sold."

Smiling indulgently Alexis found the woman's overt enthusiasm a little grating and yet she was pleased the evening was such a success. "That is good to hear and speaking of paintings, there is one I am interested in, number 47 'A woman reclining'?"

"Oh." Angela's face was at once regretful. "Oh Alexis I'm sorry I just sold it."

"Sold it, to who, perhaps they would be happy to cut a deal?"

Nodding Angela reached for her paperwork. "It was only a few minutes ago, a very handsome gentleman he paid up front before leaving, but he did give us details for shipping…Oh here it is a Mr E Hailsworth…Oh dear he only left a PO Box number no address…I'm sorry."

Shrugging Alexis ignored Angela's genuine concern something else was preoccupying her thoughts, just how many rich people were there in the world called Hailsworth?

Part 4:

"Adam please it's getting late and my head is pounding…"

"Dana I still have people to say hello to, I can't be seen as ducking out early Mother would skin me alive."

"And we cannot possibly upset the mighty Alexis Colby."

"No right now I cannot afford to upset her!" Adam snapped back. "I told you how delicate things have been lately and she is my boss..."

"God dammit Adam for just once I wish you would grow a backbone." Dana hissed her hackles now completely up as Adam flushed and gripped her arm pulling them away from prying eyes and ears.

"Lower your voice."

"Why because I might offend the good people of Denver society?" Dana muttered dramatically. "Or more to the point because I am embarrassing you and we both know Adam Alexander Carrington cannot bear to be laughed at!" Dana prattled on no longer even caring if she caused a scene. "Just like he hates to be reminded that once upon a time when he was still Michael he didn't give a damn about this high society nonsense either!"

Drawing back his face ashen as if Dana had physically assaulted him Adam did his best to contain the tremble that shook his hands, clenching them into fists as he held them rigidly down by his side as he stepped back. "Fine then go, take the car I'll find my own way home…"

"Adam…I'm sorry I shouldn't have." Dana muttered softly reached for him her guilt only mounting as he pushed her fingers away and turned to head back into the gallery without another word not even so much as glancing back in her direction.

"So all alone this evening, couldn't your prize stud be trusted out in public were you afraid he would embarrass you by belching or scratching himself in public?"

"And a Good Evening to you as well Jeff." Fallon retorted sarcastically not even looking up from the painting she was studying to glance at her husband.

If Jeff heard the censure in Fallon's voice and the barely concealed command to drop the attitude he didn't acknowledge it. Instead he forged ahead regardless not caring that their little spat was starting to draw attention. "So you are talking to me now, well I suppose we are in public and it would be a little difficult to pretend you can't hear me just like you manage to ignore all my phone calls and messages."

"I have been busy." Fallon answered calmly even as her stomach lurched a little with guilt. She had meant to call Jeff back time after time but then she had gotten caught up in her illicit affair with Jackson and hadn't been willing to burst that bubble by talking to her husband to discuss the state of their marriage.

"With Jackson no doubt." Jeff spat back the disgust plain on his face. "Funny I thought he would be here. So if it isn't Captain Cowboy who are you humiliating me with this evening, the pool boy? Or have you gone back to the tired and tested, the chauffeur?"

Sighing Fallon felt her own grip on her temper slip; it had already been a trying evening. The truth was that even her mother's chauffeur would probably have been a better date than the man she had ended up coming with, at least Eric was a gentleman.

"I came with an old acquaintance, old in the literal sense, and I haven't been humiliating you Jeff, you manage that quite nicely all by yourself." Fallon added her tone clipped her eyes scanning over the office attire that Jeff was sporting instead of the tuxedo and black tie of everyone else. "Honestly did you come straight from the office?"

"I've been busy."

"To busy to shower and change?" Fallon snorted in disgust sipping on her champagne.

"Too busy to waste time going round and round this old argument with you." Jeff sighed the initial fight suddenly seemed to go out of him. "What are we doing Fallon, to ourselves, our children?"

"I don't know…I guess it's probably about time we realised that something's just aren't meant to be."

"You really think that?" Jeff muttered shaking his head. "Well I refuse to accept it, we've gone through so much to just throw it all away…"

"Jeff please its no use…" Fallon began her blue eyes clouding with unshed tears this was the last place she wanted to get into this with him, not with the prying eyes and ears of Denver watching. She loved Jeff, she always had but she wasn't in love with him and that was always their problem, if it wasn't for her feelings for Jackson perhaps they could have tried again, but that was only delaying the inevitable.

"Come to Australia with me." Jeff suddenly cut in stopping Fallon before she could utter the words that would spell the beginning of the end for their marriage. "I fly tomorrow, I'll be there for a few weeks, just come and help me save Denver Carrington. We can get away from all our distractions here and find some time to talk…"

"Jeff I can't just up and leave I have the Carlton and the children…"

"Just think about it Fallon." Jeff insisted refusing to hear her excuses, "I leave from Denver International at nine, if you are there we can move forward and if you aren't." Jeff trailed off swallowing the lump in his throat and the growing dread as he realised the ultimatum he had just given Fallon, and the gnawing uncertainty over her choice.

Sighing Fallon tore her gaze away from Jeff's pleading eyes, "Alright Jeff…I'll think about it."

Sliding her fingers along Adam's shoulder Marin Dexter enjoyed the sensation of his tight muscles under her fingertips as well as the feeling of being the centre of attention; well one of the centres of attention she reluctantly conceded frowning slightly. She was certainly attracting her fair share of attention, a new attractive face dancing with a Carrington gave her a certain status, yet despite this many male eyes were still following those damn Colby women.

"Damn…"

"Did I step on your toes?" Adam's muttering drew Marin out of her funk and she gazed up into the piercing blue eyes of the Carrington heir.

"What?"

"You're scowling." Adam added unable to contain the slight smile that tugged at his lips as Marin rolled her eyes.

"Oh that…No nothing to do with you…this time!" Marin retorted her dark eyes flashing as she caught a glimpse of her brother fawning all over that witch Alexis Colby. Dear god didn't those two have any sense of decorum; they were in public didn't they realise all that saccharine would turn people's stomachs?

Following her gaze Adam couldn't help but snort in amusement. "Oh Dexter…I should have guessed at a sibling problem, somehow I think they are more trouble than they are worth."

"Well you would know being the eldest of four." Marin muttered dryly surprised when Adam spluttered and began to laugh, it was a surprisingly nice laugh she decided, for a Carrington. "I honestly don't know how you cope, having one brother is hard enough, I can't imagine two sisters would improve things much."

"They have their moments." Adam confided. "However we have never been particularly close, too much competition. And if you count Krystina I am one of five and then there are the grandchildren and Jack…Sometimes I wonder if that's the real reason why we squabble so much, anything to get some attention." Adam trailed off his amused smile slipping from his face as he caught sight of Dana standing alone by the bar.

Clearly she hadn't followed his suggestion and taken the car after all, was it a ploy to make him feel guilty for choosing to put his career first? Yet it was now getting late and people were starting to leave, there wouldn't be any fallout from leaving now and at least he wouldn't need to field awkward questions from his mother about why Dana had left early and alone.

"Well thank for the dance Marin I guess I should be…"

This time it was Marin who followed his gaze as Adam turned them around on the dance floor. "Your Miss Waring doesn't seem to be enjoying herself, poor thing, I suppose you can't blame her for feeling out of place when she so clearly is."

"Dana is n…"

"I am not being a bitch Adam." Marin cut in her fingers tightening on the sleeve of Adam's tuxedo as he pulled back frostily. "She seems very nice, very sweet, none of which will make it easier to fit into the Carrington world I imagine. After all you said it yourself even you have to fight for your place in the family."

"The family all love Dana." Adam retorted his tone slightly clipped yet despite his defensiveness he couldn't deny that Marin had struck a sore nerve, he always had to fight for position within the family and Dana loathed the conflict preferring to withdraw completely rather than have his back. Sometimes he missed having that additional support, support that Fallon and Steven never seemed to need being both born and raised as Carringtons.

"Love is only a start and we both know it." Marin added her dark eyes soaking up the conflicted expression that Adam tried so desperately to hide, an expression that got her thinking…the possibilities were interesting. "You're a prominent figure in both society and business so I guess I never took you for a romantic Adam."

"Romantic?" Adam scoffed Marin choice of word taking him completely by surprise. "I would hardly think anyone would consider me that, least of all Dana."

"You think choosing a wife, no matter how beautiful, based on love rather than choosing a society trophy wife who could better support your position, isn't romantic?" Marin retorted pleased when Adam seemed to shift uncomfortable with her praise, so clearly this wasn't the first time such an idea had occurred to him…promising…

"Dana has stuck by me when I was at my lowest… I owe her a great deal…"

"But?"

Pausing Adam felt guilty even thinking it let alone admitting it out loud yet it seemed his mouth ran away with him and somehow it did feel better to admit it to someone… "I … I just find it difficult to understand why she seems to struggle so much when things should be going well for us."

Shrugging Marin accepted Adams arm has he escorted her off the floor and over to her waiting escort who seemed impatient to leave. "I guess some women need to be needed, perhaps they lack the confidence to let go."

Choosing not to comment, even as he tried to smile as he bid Marin goodnight before making his way over to the patiently waiting Dana Adam couldn't shake off the impact Marin's words had.

"Well I think that tonight went better than expected." Dex muttered jovially his arm slung casually bout Alexis's waist as they waited for their car to arrive like many of Denver's glitterati. It was still a warm night for the end of august and it was quite pleasant to stand out in the cooling air and feel the night breeze on your skin.

"But you know the best part of the night is yet to come." Dex added teasingly his wandering fingers moving to tug at Alexis's zip, his smile only growing as she swatted his hand away with a muttered "Behave."

Snorting in amusement Alexis couldn't stifle a smile at his childlike response. Of course it had gone well for him; Dex had managed to get out of looking at most of the art work and had found an interesting titbit of information when talking to one of his grandfather's old friends about a potential business venture back in the mining industry.

"Well as long as you enjoyed yourself." Alexis replied playfully her bright smile freezing slightly as she caught sight of the person whose car had just arrived to whisk them home.

Blake was here…and he was leaving

How could she only just be noticing him now?

Sure she had known he would be invited, Mark had specifically asked her if she wanted Blake Carrington on the guest list or not and Alexis had shrugged her shoulders in a non committal fashion allowing her assistant to make up his own mind whether that was a yes or a no.

As if feeling her gaze on him Blake glanced up his dark eyes locking momentarily with Alexis's own before he vanished into the darkened limousine. Yet a fleeting glance of the barely hidden pain in his dark eyes and the sad smile of greeting that played about his firm lips as enough to make Alexis's playful mood evaporate and stomach churning guilt take it's place.

Had Blake thought she had invited him only to deliberately snub him; to rub his nose in it as she flaunted her relationship with Dex under his nose?

Alexis barely noticed when her own car arrived and Dex guided her into it, her thoughts whirling a mile minute as Dex pressed a kiss to her neck and she barely even noticed. Alexis was far too distracted with her own thoughts to notice the scowl that stole over Dex's face as she stared blankly out of the window.

She couldn't explain it even to herself, but the thought of Blake going home and thinking so poorly of her disturbed Alexis more deeply than she would ever care to admit to anyone.

The party was over and now that the high and mighty of Denver had had their fun it was down to the real grafters to pool their trade. The doors had barely closed when the army of cleaners emerged and began to tidy up, stacking champagne glasses and collecting plates.

So it was somewhat of a surprise when one cleaner reached down to empty a waste bin only to have a smartly suited and gold cuff linked hand reach out and pick up before he could reaching it.

"Hey mate the party is over." The cleaner called out frowning in confusion as the tuxedo clad guest rummaged through and removed something putting it away in his pocket before handing the bin back with a smile.

"You are certainly right my good man…It is in more ways than one!"

Part 5:

It was the soft patter of a light drizzle on the windowpanes that greeted Dex as he woke; it seemed like summer was finally over and autumn was approaching quickly on its heels. Personally Dex would be both sad and relived that this tumultuous summer was over, sad because it had brought him Alexis finally and yet relieved because the changing seasons would perhaps enable him to finally put his father's passing behind him.

Dex would be far happier if he didn't have to hear or even have to think the name Sam Dexter ever again. Yet every day there was something that prompted a memory, something Jack did or perhaps it was just a name in a newspaper and Dex was back as a small child gazing up at the person who was the centre of his universe.

His hero…

Scowling as the taste of acidic bile soured his tongue Dex felt his carefully stoppered rage bubble ominously below the surface, just as it did whenever he allowed himself to dwell on 'his father' and on the way things had ended between them. Perhaps if he could understand it, if there was some other explanation other than spite on his father's part…

But Sam Dexter was dead and his reasoning had died with him. Well there had been that letter…

Yet Dex had made an impulsive decision to throw that away, to make a clean break and at the time he had been certain it had been the right thing to do. Dex was committed to forging a new life and empire for himself and his son, something that would eventually make Dexter International look like a child's playground, and to do it all with the woman of his dreams by his side.

Yet after a night of sleep disturbed by dreams in which his father's disapproving face had heavily featured Dex was no longer so sure that he had done the right thing. Was Sam haunting him now because he had thrown the letter away, would he continue to do so until Dex found some way to exorcise him?

Perhaps he had been a little impetuous simply tossing the letter aside like that. He had allowed his anger to rule him in that moment but Dex couldn't deny his determination to actually move on with his life and holding on to that letter meant holding on to the past. Besides what comfort could learning his father's motivations actually provide, what more did he need to know than what Sam Dexter's actions had already shown him? Did he really need to give the old man another opportunity to twist the knife in from beyond the grave; another chance to tear the scabs from the barely healed wound?

No…Dex had already wasted enough time on trying to gain his father's approval, and as impetuous as his decision may have been it was the one he had made and there was no going back now. He needed to make his peace with things…As impossible a task as that may seem.

Besides the urge to prove Sam wrong still burned hot in his gut, to prove to his father that Dex didn't need Dexter International, that he could build his own company, and be a good father to his child and…and keep Alexis.

That was the mantra that Dex focused on in order to force Sam's scowling face from his thoughts. Dex Dexter was never going to let Alexis Colby go again, and there was nothing he wouldn't do, short of murder, he realised suddenly in order to keep her.

Shifting uneasily Dex's concern transferred as Alexis muttered in her sleep her eyes scrunched shut as she pouted her complaints and Dex smiled down at her indulgently even as her fingernails dug slightly into his tensed muscles. Stretching out Dex tried to work out the knots in his muscles all whilst not disturbing Alexis who had curled herself like a creeper around him her dark head using his shoulder for a pillow.

Stroking the hair from her face Dex leant down and placed a chaste kiss on her pouting lips, teasing them gently as Alexis moaned and shifted against him, her muttered protest that it was too early eliciting the first genuine smile on his face.

"Good morning gorgeous." Dex replied softly as Alexis buried her face into his shoulder.

"What's so good about it?" Alexis grumbled she didn't even need to check the bedside clock to know it was still obscenely early. "Too early Dex, just go back to sleep."

"Ah now come on the sun is hiding behind a rain cloud, it's a beautiful day." Dex joked running his hand down her side as he honed in on her ticklish spot, his quick fingers causing Alexis to scream and try to wiggle out of his grasp.

"Just…Stop…You….Bastard!" Alexis spluttered as she gasped for breath in between screeches of protest. "DEXXXXXXXXXXXXX…I am going to cut your…."

"Oh I do love the dulcet tone of the woman I love, caressing my ears with her soft endearments in the morning." Dex teased, before cutting off Alexis's continued threats with his lips; refusing to relinquish them until he was ready even when Alexis cuffed him about the head and dug her nails into his shoulder.

"Oaf!" Alexis spat the moment Dex released her yet there was little real venom in her tone and more than a spoonful of affection. Yet even she was surprised when instead of continuing or even escalating their little encounter like he usually would, Dex actually swung his legs out of bed whistling merrily as he reached for his robe.

"Where are you going?"

"Why will you miss me?" Dex countered Alexis's expression of surprise by dropping a kiss to her forehead.

"Dexxxxxxxxxxx."

"So suspicious Mrs Colby sleep with a man but don't ever trust him hmmmmm?"

Laughing at his light hearted tone Alexis could only watch astounded as Dex headed for the door without answering her question, reaching for her own robe when Dex stopped in the doorway. "Oh no you have to stay there."

"And why is that?" Alexis demanded her emerald eyes flashing warningly.

"Because I say so." Dex couldn't resist baiting her. "And if you love me you'll do as I ask." He added with a wink enjoying the look of stunned surprise on Alexis's face as she barely blustered a reply.

"So you're just going to leave me here and accuse me of not loving you if I dare move so much a to the bathroom?"

Laughing Dex shook his head his lips sealed as he shut the door behind him, ignoring her shouts as he headed down the corridor. Despite the miserable weather today was going to be a good day after all, Dex was certain of that.

She was going to do it today…

In truth she knew that she had been putting it off for weeks, hoping deep in her heart that in the end there would be no need to actually go through with it that things might actually resolve themselves without having to go to such an extreme. Yet Krystina hadn't improved the way she hoped she would, the occasional yes or no did not really count as progress and since Blake was reluctant to bring in outside help Krystle knew her hands were tied.

She was going to have to take up Alexis's offer of assistance, so it was with trembling hands that she dialled the number Fallon had left to contact her at Colby Acres, because as far as Krystle was willing to go for her daughter actually pleading with Alexis to allow them to visit was going too far. Besides Alexis had told her to arrange things via Fallon.

"Hello?" Fallon's sleepy voice on the other end of the phone jarred Krystle back to the present, well it was now or never and gathering her courage Krystle uttered the words that unknowingly were to change her life forever.

"Fallon…It's Krystle I was just phoning to ask a favour…I was wondering if Krystina and I could visit you today and if it would be possible… if Alexis would have some time to talk to Krystina?"

Today was going to be a better day than the last.

At least that was the mantra going through Blake's head as he dressed in his tennis whites, the early morning rain had now finally stopped and the sun was peaking out from behind the clouds so there was no reason he couldn't keep his scheduled monthly match. He already felt bad about cancelling on Andrew so many times over the last few months and he needed to get back into shape, his routine of swimming lengths in the morning before work and playing tennis on the weekends had gone to pot and he only had himself to blame.

Catching a glance at himself in the mirror Blake was just relieved the damn shorts still fit, not that he was developing a gut but he was hardly the figure of the man he had been in his youth, or hell even five years ago. Was it any wonder that Alexis preferred a fit man almost nine years her junior to a man nearly twelve years older?

No he wasn't doing down that road again Blake insisted shaking his head.

Forcing himself away from the mirror, Blake knew that this wasn't time for getting caught up dwelling on everything that he lost, it was time to face the future head on and find something new, something to distract him from everything that he had lost, time to find a way to make the fortune needed to buy back Denver Carrington in a years time.

And besides Blake mused as he picked up his racket and bag he needed to have faith in himself and faith in the deep empathic bond with Alexis. In just one look last night he had been able to gage her surprise, shock and guilt at only just realising he was there and more than a moderate dose of regret and that was all without him lifting a finger to interfere. Perhaps backing off had been the best tactic he could have employed, given enough time Alexis would come to realise just how much she missed him all by herself. There was just too much history, too many bonds between them to simply shrug them aside, they were apart of each other and there was nothing anyone could do to change that.

And if that wasn't enough…well Dexter's track record spoke for itself, eventually the younger man would lose his temper and fall into bed with somebody else and when that happened…

Blake smiled humming pleasantly to himself as he took the stairs two at a time nodding politely at Gerard who seemed surprised by his employer's buoyant mood.

Blake just had to hold his nerve long enough and play his cards close to his chest, but in the meantime he needed to show both Alexis and the world that Blake Carrington was a winner, and everyone loves a winner!

Part 6:

Scrambled eggs, toast cut into neat triangles with the crusts cut off, sliced melon and a carafe of coffee with two cups with a choice of grapefruit juice if Alexis's preference leant that way and…

This was it and Dex was surprised how nervous he was, although considering his track record at this perhaps he did have reason to be nervous after all. Dex breathed deeply as he fingered a certain item he had just retrieved from his briefcase. Smiling broadly at Patrick, who had assembled the breakfast tray as per Dex's exacting specifications, and handed it over to an anxious dressing gown clad Dex.

Struggling to juggle everything Dex slipped the velvet box into his robe pocket to keep it safe. Thank god he hadn't lost the Pièce de résistance, this little jewel had managed to survive the ransacking of his apartment. This had to be a sign that his impulse buy which had seemed foolhardy all those months ago had been the right decision after all...

_He had only stepped into the auction viewing after Jack's doctors had insisted he take some sort of a breather. In truth they were probably getting sick of him practically living at the hospital and one of the junior doctors learning Dex had a passing interest in antique cars had mentioned that the upcoming auctioning of the contents of an estate of an old movie mogul whose surviving widow had recently passed away. _

_Dex had decided on a whim to go, after all the only people he knew in LA were the Colby's and despite the little détente in hostilities at the hospital there was still something about Monika that put him on edge. So thinking that the viewing might at least prove distracting enough for an afternoon Dex had gotten his car and enjoyed the drive along the coast._

_Yet when he got there it hadn't been the 1956 Jaguar roadster that had caught his eye…_

_Well it had caught his eye but then Dex had found something else to spend his money on, glittering all by itself in a glass case, 22 carats of glittering perfection accompanied side by side with two deep enchanting emeralds that reminded Dex immediately of another pair of glittering emeralds. _

_It was impulsive and expensive… Alexis was only his friend at that point even if his heart craved more yet Dex just knew right there the only person who should wear that jewel was Alexis. So he had placed a commission bid on the books and left without even glancing at another item leaving the matter up to fate…_

"At least someone looks happy this morning." Fallon's somewhat sarcastic drawl cut into Dex's happy memories and for a moment he struggled to keep a hold on the tray.

"Jesus Fallon starting wearing a bell will you?" Dex spat whirling round, hissing as the hot coffee spilled over his hand and down his robe, scolding his bare skin. "F***!" He screamed thrusting the tray at a surprised Fallon as he ripped off the robe and used it to mop at his stinging chest.

"Dex I'm sorry, I didn't think…I just…" Fallon muttered genuinely horrified and genuinely distracted by the sight of one Dex Dexter clad only in some rather low-slung dark blue silk pyjama trousers.

"Honestly Fallon just save it ok?" Dex grumbled his frown only deepening as he caught sight of his carefully planned and now ruined breakfast, the spilt coffee now congealed with the eggs.

"Great now I have to start all over again." He grumbled oblivious to Fallon's preoccupation as he turned to Patrick who had reappeared as if by magic. "Sorry Patrick I don't suppose…"

"I will attend to it immediately Mr Dexter." Patrick replied politely taking the tray from Fallon's hands and returning to the kitchen, not even raising so much as an eyebrow at the somewhat informal and scantily clad attire of the family.

"Dex I said I was sorry it was an accident." Fallon tried again her own temper getting the better of her as Dex continued to sulk like a little boy denied his favourite toy, Fallon had had quite enough of dealing with moping men for one weekend. "It's just breakfast in bed, and besides when I just left her Mummy was getting dressed…"

"What!"

"Krystle is bringing Krystina over." Fallon continued ignoring Dex's little temper tantrum. "Sorry but Mummy is going to be a little busy to lounge around in bed with you…"

"But I had plans for this morning…"

Rolling her eyes as she pushed past him to reach the breakfast buffet Fallon reached for a plate. "Well Mummy has other ideas…" She added airily turning back to catch the ugly scowl that contorted Dex's handsome face. "Honestly Dex it's just breakfast grow up."

Scowling as Fallon prattled on Dex tried to keep a lid on his anger, he could feel it bubbling away under the surface, and Fallon's little diatribe was only adding the fuel of his father's betrayal.

"…Besides Mummy promised she would do what she could to help Krystina, and she never breaks her promises, I am sure she can find time to fit you later Dex, I mean it's not like you're going anywhere…"

"Has anyone ever told you to shut up?" Dex cut in testily a measure of satisfaction as Fallon stared at him agape, her pretty little mouth opening and shutting silently like a goldfish.

"Or are you simply so spoiled and selfish that you never even think before you open your mouth? Or are you just so jealous that your mother is happy and you're not that you want to ruin everything?" Dex added whirling around on his heel and storming out of the dinning room, sodden robe clutched in his fist as he barrelled his way down the corridor.

Finally finding her voice Fallon stormed after him her anger only growing as Dex slammed the bedroom door shut behind him, for a moment Fallon considered banging on the door and bawling Dex out but then the sound of raised voices caused her to reconsider. Perhaps she had been little bit of a bitch and baiting Dex about being the last to know about the change of plans…

Heading back to the dining room a sinking feeling of guilt in her stomach as the realisation that the argument now taking place had been mainly of her causing Fallon sank down into the nearest chair her scowl only growing as she caught sight of the time.

Ten past nine…

Jeff would have realised by now that she wasn't coming.

If she was honest Fallon hadn't ever honestly considered going, how could she when all that she had really felt for Jeff over the past few weeks was a sense of relief at being free from him, tinged by guilt. Fallon hated to admit that Dex might have a little point, perhaps there was a part of her that was jealous of her mother's happy love life? There was certainly a part of her, the inner eight year old that was still firmly in the corner of a Blake Alexis reconciliation.

So perhaps it was that inner child that found it impossible to let go of the hope and the lingering thought that perhaps if Dexter was suddenly out of the picture then there was still a chance…

Kicking out Fallon hissed when her toe stubbed the leg of the table, reaching down to rub her throbbing toe Fallon was momentarily distracted when her eyes locked on something that shouldn't be there. With a trembling hand Fallon reached out and picked up the little green velvet box, knowing and dreading what she was about to find Fallon flicked it open.

It was beautiful. Dexter had taste at least but the very idea….

No she couldn't allow this to happen, no matter the promise she had made to her father to stay out of it and allow her mother to make her own choices, there were some promises that just needed to be broken.

Grunting Blake drew the back of his wristband across his forehead wiping away the sweat that had gathered there as he concentrated on Andrew's upcoming serve. They were tied on 3 sets a piece and this match point would swing that one way or other and Blake Carrington was not about to lose.

Come on come on…Blake encouraged himself moving his balance from one foot to the other as he stared down his opponent. There was only their traditional ten dollar wager on the game but Blake knew there was a hell of a lot more than money riding on it and Blake Carrington was not about to lose his reputation.

Already they had gathered quite a crowd of interested onlookers only some of whom were actual tennis fans, but then some of them were quite pretty ladies so it wasn't a total loss. However perhaps it would have been better for his reputation to be playing the match at the mansion instead of accepting Andrew's suggestion to use the court at The Carlton. Yet at the time the suggestion of getting away from the family and enjoying a game followed by a drink at the bar and lunch on the terrace had sounded too tempting a prospect to turn down.

Watching as Andrew reached up, tossing the ball and slamming it down hard…too hard Blake winced as his old friend seemed to sprain something even as the damn ball practically took his head off as it zoomed past.

"Andrew are you alright?" Blake called out as his old friend winced and tried to roll his shoulder.

"Arghhh…Sorry Blake I seem to have overstretched on that last one…I don't think…" Andrew began trying to raise his racket again before doubling over in pain. "No I definitely can't finish the match."

"A draw then." Blake offered magnanimously as he picked up Andrew's bag and relieved his old friend of his racket. "Come on I definitely owe you a beer now."

"Beer?" Andrew scoffed. "Right now I think I am owed at least a scotch."

"Coming right up sir." Blake insisted tipping his imaginary hat as they headed towards a seat in the sunshine and Blake collared a passing waiter and ordered two scotches.

Leaning back in his seat Blake allowed the sun to dry him out, giving himself a chance to relax until a sudden booming voice jarred him awake.

"Well Blake Carrington as I live and breath…"

Cracking one eye open Blake was pleasantly surprised to see his old friend and acquaintance Walter Grunnings, the large Texan closing in until he all but blocked out his sun with his broad shoulders and ten-gallon hat.

"Walter." Blake greeted him politely shaking the man's hand when he offered it before offering him the spare seat. "It has been a while."

"I know…I haven't seen you since that shindig here, that Korean party when you announced your engagement…Oh sorry." Walter suddenly stopped, still he wasn't so good an actor that Blake couldn't tell his concern was hardly heartfelt and sincere.

Yet Blake hadn't maintained an acquaintance with Walter over the years because he actually liked the man but when it came to insider information there was no one better informed. "So Walter how are things in Washington?"

"Oh ticking along nicely I am planning a little trip soon, should be a profitable little line…Although I doubt it would be something you are interested in." Walter added watching Blake closely. "It is a little out of your traditional area of interest."

Leaning back in his seat Blake gratefully accepted his drink when it arrived, swirling the ice around as he locked his dark eyes on Walter's smug face. "Why don't you let me be the judge of that?"

This had been a bad idea.

That was the idea that had been reverberating around Krystle's brain since shortly after she had arrived at Delta Ro, privately she refused to refer to Daniel's former home as Colby Acres. What was it with Alexis, did the woman's ego know now bounds that she needed to rebrand and remould everything in her own image?

Shaking her head Krystle tried her best to put her personal dislike for Alexis aside, she had agreed to help Krystina but from the frosty welcome they had received when they had first arrived you might have been forgiven for thinking Krystle was a gatecrasher. Still Alexis's mad mood at least hadn't extended to Krystina, although Krystle wasn't sure what was actually worse… Alexis the bitch or the Alexis who smiled and pulled her daughter into a hug as though it was the most natural thing in the world.

Now Alexis had whisked Krystina off riding with her, leaving Krystle to hang around the ranch that had once been a refuge for her and now felt alien like enemy territory. Naturally Krystle's feet had taken her out to the stables hoping to find something familiar, yet even this had been altered in true Alexis Colby style. The old long barns were gone and in their place a line of pristine white painted stables, large loose boxes that housed thousands of pounds worth of breeding stock.

"You know the horses don't bite and they can be pretty good listeners so there is no need to scowl quite so much at them. Poor Champion here is probably developing some sort of complex already." A dry drawling voice startled her and the feeling of déjà vu overwhelmed Krystle.

"Mr Hobbs." Krystle greeted the handsome stud manager politely, trying not to let his irreverent attitude rattle her. "How are you this morning?"

"Well I am just fine thank you for asking." Jackson replied a hint of a rogue smile playing about his handsome face. "And it's Jackson."

Smiling politely Krystle tried to contain the rush of heat to her cheeks at his subtle chastisement. "I know…I just…"

"It's ok Krystle." Jackson teased. "I am just playing with you…Now come on lady spill what put that scowl on that pretty face, not the company surely?"

Shaking her head Krystle could only stare at Jackson in bemusement. "Do you not take anything seriously?"

"I take some things seriously." Jackson replied softly and for a moment Krystle caught sight of a flicker of something beneath those blue eyes before it was gone and replaced with the usual Jackson Hobbs bravado. "However you take things too seriously, let me guess you're out here because you don't feel comfortable in the house, you feel out of place and yet you still came because you knew that it was best for your daughter."

"Because I am not enough." Krystle muttered unable to keep the bitterness out of her voice and failing as she reached out and petted the racehorse's nose. "You can't imagine how hard it is for me to accept that I need Alexis's help, especially when it comes to my child…I'm her mother I should be enough."

"That can't be an easy thing to admit, even to yourself, I can respect that Krystle and I think you need to cut yourself a little slack, you're trying to do what you can even if it makes you personally uncomfortable that's more than most people can claim…"

Sighing Krystle tried to take comfort in Jackson's curt assessment, she was trying but sometimes trying wasn't enough.

"I think it's more than just not being the one to help your daughter, you seem to have lost some of fire I remember…"Jackson paused. "I remember the woman who stood here not a few months ago demanding who the hell I was?"

"I don't remember cursing Jackson." Krystle retorted primly yet one glance from Jackson cut off her retort. "I guess I feel a little adrift and I'm unsure what to do with my life…I am just waiting for some sort of sign…"

"From Blake. Please Krystle tell me you are not still waiting for Blake to suddenly come to his senses?" Jackson exclaimed incredulous that this beautiful and intelligent woman could be so blind, and wasting her life waiting around for a man who would never appreciate her. "Krystle that man is still head over heels for Alexis Colby, and he is not going to change his mind just because she won't have anything to do with him, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if that won't make him all the more determined."

"I'm not I…" Krystle blushed unable to deny it when Jackson had caught her out and laid out her private hopes to ridicule. "I don't see that it is any of your business in any rate Mr Hobbs." She added hotly, unable to suppress the hot tears that sprang to her eyes as she turned intending to put as much room as she could between that man and his unsettling insights.

"Hey hey…wait I didn't mean to upset you." Jackson insisted his voice kind but firm as he caught Krystle's arm and forced her to a stop. "It's just eventually you are going to have stop running from the truth Krystle and realise that you are not setting a very good example for your daughter…"

"What?"

"Well all you are showing Krystina that her future happiness should be wrapped up in a man and that she should wait around like a faithful dog happy for scraps or perhaps just to be kicked occasional just prove he still notices her!"

"How dare…" Krystle hissed jerking her arm from his grip this time intent on placing on as much distance between herself and Jackson Hobbs as physical possible.

Who did he think he was talking to her like this? What the hell did he know about anything thing, he didn't know her and he sure as hell knew nothing about her relationship with Blake…

Yet as she reached up to brush the tears away from her eyes Krystle hated the part of her that surged up and the little voice that echoed in her mind, that it would be far easier to stay mad at him if deep down a part of her hadn't realised he might just be right.


	5. Episode 5: Gold Rush

Series 12: Blood Lines

Episode 5: Gold Rush

Part 1:

It was a beautiful autumnal morning, the sky was streaked with colour as the sun rose slowly through the clouds occasionally breaking through, it's rays bouncing and glinting off of the many reflective surfaces of Denver's skyscrapers. However even as she stared out of the windows of her antique Rolls Royce Alexis Colby remained oblivious to this colourful vision of natural and manmade spectacle, which was momentarily and beautifully in sync.

Seated comfortably in the leather seats of her limousine dressed to kill in white Armani Alexis was far too preoccupied to pay attention to mere scenery and considering all that she had on her mind she would be easily forgiven for not paying attention. Between running Colby Co, dealing with a fussy and teething Jack who seemingly would go to no one but her right now, Alexis had had precious little time to relax and think, and there was plenty she needed to think about.

The time spent with Krystina had definitely seen to that. Sighing Alexis tried to push Krystina's innocent question from her mind, yet a hard as she tried it kept coming back to haunt her.

They had ridden out to the site of the new house, on the far side of the lake, the site had been excavated and foundations had been finished early in the summer so now much of the shell was being constructed and it was possible to gain some idea of the finished building. It would be magnificent and as if to fill the silence that stretched between them as Krystina remained mute Alexis had prattled on expanding on her plans for the building until a sudden softly spoken question caused her to stop in mid-flow.

"When are you and Fallon coming home?" Krystina asked innocently her long blond hair blowing in front of her face as she urged her pony to keep pace with Alexis's gelding. It was the first thing she had spoken aloud throughout the entire ride despite Alexis's prompting, and the sudden noise startled Alexis

"Darling this is my home now, I live here with Dex and Jack and…"

"But Daddy is sad…He misses you…I miss you...Why can't you come home we have enough room for everyone?" Krystina insisted stubbornly ignoring Alexis's protest her bottom lip pouting. "You don't need a new house!"

"Baby it is not a question of room." Alexis answered softly pulling her mount to a halt, her emerald eyes locked on the Krystina's cobalt blue. "This is my home I can't just leave it."

Sighing Krystina shook her head her frustration with these silly adults. "But don't you miss me…don't you miss Daddy, don't you want to be with us anymore?"

"It's not a question of what I want Krystina." Alexis had insisted however she had clearly failed to convince Krystina of that, just as right now she was failing to convince herself.

It would have been far easier to dismiss that conversation if Alexis could deny even to herself missing Blake, part of her always would. Their relationship had been the most important, the most defining one of her life. Blake was the man she had chosen as her husband, as the father of her children and that wasn't something she could just erase. Just like there was no erasing the deep conflicting feelings that still surfaced whenever Blake Carrington lingered in her thoughts

And then there was Dex who seemed determined to try and accomplish just that, to achieve the impossible and make her forget Blake entirely.

But something was up with Dex Alexis was certain of it and not just his lingering sensitivity when it came to any mention of Blake.

Their relationship had finally settled down, for which Alexis was grateful. It had seemed for weeks she had barely been able to move without Dex's possessive hand around her waist or somewhere more incriminating as he seemed to determined to mark his territory wherever they were and no matter who they were with. Fortunately Jack's fussiness had meant that for the last week they had stayed at home rather than going out and Dex had relaxed a little in the safety of the ranch.

However if she thought about it Alexis honestly might be willing to endure a little more public groping if it meant she didn't have to muddle through Dex's current temperamental behaviour.

For one thing he had been far moodier in the last few days, and a moody Dex was a brooding Dex. She had tried calling him on it but Dex was stubborn, as stubborn as she was and if he decided he didn't want to talk about something then even thumbscrews wouldn't get it out of him. Even after she had walked in on him seemingly interrogating poor Patrick Dex had been resolutely tight lipped about the whole affair and Alexis simply hadn't found an opportunity to get Patrick's side of the story.

Of course now Dex was off on a business trip leaving her with no answers and an irritable Jack who kept her up through the night…Well kept the Nanny up mainly but there were a few nights when the big guns had been needed to calm a wailing Jack and Alexis had dragged herself out of bed to sooth him back to sleep.

Yet in a way it was easier only having to deal with one child at the moment. The sulk Dex had thrown when Alexis had quite reasonably turned down his offer to accompany him on his trip at such short notice had tested her patience. However even Dex had seen sense when Alexis pointed out that they couldn't both leave Jack and they certainly couldn't take him with them not without getting a whole series of inoculations.

Was it any wonder Alexis breathed a guilty sigh of relief when Dex had kissed her on the cheek that morning and ruffled Jack's hair before taking his own car to the airport? Alexis just crossed her fingers that his business went well and that Dex therefore came home in a better mood.

"Morning Your Majesty." Mark's irreverent greeting surprised Alexis who hadn't even realised that the elevator had arrived at the executive floor and that she had made her way over to her office by force of habit.

"Morning Mark." Alexis replied politely yet there was little real enthusiasm in her tone and it spoke of her growing affection for her impudent secretary that his fallen face actually drew Alexis out of her funk for a moment. "Sorry my mind was elsewhere. Do you have anything for me…Oh and did you enjoy using my tickets to the ballet opening?"

Clearly that had been the right thing to say as Mark's face lit up. "What part of muscular men dressed only in tights prancing about and stretching isn't enjoyable?" Mark teased fanning himself dramatically with the handful of his boss's post.

"Oh and you had to see what Constance Foster was wearing to believe it, vomit pink tulle cut toooooo low on the bosom, whenever she leant over the balcony it was more than the ballet dancers on show!"

Unable to contain her giggles Alexis couldn't choke back her snort or the laughter that shook her frame as Mark pushed open the door to her office and waved his employer to enter before him full of pomp and circumstance. However Alexis only managed two steps into her room before her eyes locked on the new addition, sitting on a easel in the corner of the room was a familiar painting that took her breath away.

"Mark how did…When was that delivered?"

"When was what…" Mark began innocently his handsome face scrunching in confusion as he followed Alexis's gaze to the reclining nude. "Oh…I…How did that get there?"

"Very funny."

"No I am serious. I didn't put this in here." Mark insisted his blue eyes suddenly grave, he took his job seriously guarding Alexis's office and privacy like a mother hen did her chicks. "Heads will roll I promise, I'll get onto security and…"

Waving aside Mark's rant Alexis made her way over to the painting. The exhibition had closed the night before yet Alexis hadn't been back since the opening night; there was no need since the only piece she had been interested in had sold before she had been able to close the deal. So it was somewhat a surprise to find very same piece sitting in her office as if it had always been there.

Reaching out Alexis couldn't resist trailing her fingertips along the curve of the figure's back a smile tugging at her lips as she caught sight of the note pinned to the frame.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, take good care of our budding Matisse, I'll be watching. EH

"Alexis?" Mark's voice jarred Alexis back to the present. "Do you want me to track down who sent this?"

Picking up note Alexis ran her fingers across the flowing script her eyes lingering on the capitals EH. "Oh there is no need Mark I'll deal with this personally…"

The sound of waves crashing on the beach was soothing to Blake's raw nerves. The flight down here had been a nightmare. Blake had forgotten how trying flying commercial could be, the waiting around, the forced company, the food….Not to mention the turbulence.

Then there was having to change flights in order to make the trip down here even possible.

God Blake missed having his company jet at his disposal; hanging around at airports was certainly far down on his list of favourite ways to pass the time. Yet Blake had to admit the scenery and peace of this location was worth all the effort it had taken to reach it. The villa was opulent and set into the cliff; the large windows had expansive panoramic views of the crystal blue water stretching out as far as the eye could see.

It was the sort of place you came to get away from everything and everybody, a secluded, romantic getaway; the sort of place you imagined when you pictured a tropical paradise or desert island.

A desert island…

Blake pushed the thought away the moment it flared up, even though in his mind's eye he could easily picture Alexis laughing and romping in the surf just like she had in Corfu on their honeymoon. That had been an old dream; their youthful plans of letting the children run the empire he would build whilst they enjoyed their early retirement. Plans that he had thought abandoned years before after the divorce and which they had only began to dust off in the months of their reconciliation.

When Krystina was old enough Blake had suggested…Away at school or college, years enough away that there was time to plan yet not so distant that retirement plans seemed like a pipe dream.

Retirement plans…

That almost seemed laughable now, especially as the only reason Blake was here was to find a way to make a new beginning, a new empire to eclipse the old one, something to give him purpose, a challenge to take his mind off of all the things had had lost.

Now if only he could close this deal and beat out the competition?

That small piece of information had been lacking when Walter had been doing his sales pitch, as it seemed Blake wasn't the only person he had been talking to, leading the Carrington patriarch to wonder if the damn Texan was on commission. Well one thing was certain from the number of staff carrying expensive looking luggage Blake knew he wasn't the only big hitter here, so he could only hope most were here window shopping and not really intent on buying.

How many people were really interested in gold and diamond mining, sure it sounded glamorous but since Walter had planted the seed of the idea in Blake's head he had done his homework. Besides it wasn't the existing gold and diamond mines that had drawn him here, no it had been the preliminary results from the excavation of a promising copper vein. If he could add a functioning copper mine to the existing sites then Blake knew this little purchase could make him more than a tidy profit, not to mention the potential available in the uncharted land.

Providing he got it for the right price…

Pushing open the French doors Blake wandered out onto his private balcony, enjoying the warmth of the sun and the freshness of the sea breeze. Yes he could come to enjoy a place like this, somewhere to start again; somewhere he wouldn't run the risk of turning a corner and walking into Alexis content and happy on another man's arm. He could leave the children the mansion, and pop back for visits, Krystina could split her time between her mother in Denver and her father in Brazil it wouldn't be ideal but…

Could he really do it, leave Denver and his old life behind him once and for all? As hard as it was seeing Alexis with Dex at least Blake did get to see her but if he took up this challenge there would be no casual accidental meetings, no chance glances or shared smiles.

Pacing the length of the balcony as it curved around the peninsular the villa was built into Blake started in surprise when another set of French doors open and another guest stepped out onto the terrace. For a moment the bright sunlight reflecting off of the glass dazzled Blake's eyes and so he raised a hand to shade them, the sunspots fading to reveal a familiar and unwelcome face.

"Damn it Dexter what the hell are you doing here?"

Part 2:

Dex had recognised him the moment he opened the door and breathed in the sea air, only one man had that particular shade of silver grey hair and that stubborn set to his frame, Blake Carrington. The irony of his situation didn't escape Dex, in part he had taken this trip in order to gain such much-needed space from Alexis and Denver and all his conflicted feelings and yet here was Blake Carrington the cause of much of his heartache clearly occupying the very next room.

"God must hate me." Dex muttered under his breath, and right now faced with Carrington's pompous face and outraged expression that Dex himself was here, Dex knew he must have done something very bad in a previous life to deserve this sort of torment. First the missing ring, the one when he had first seen it in LA he had believed was a symbol of his bright future, the perfect engagement ring, and the one that even Alexis couldn't refuse.

"Damn it Dexter what the hell are you doing here?"

Snorting at the audacity of the older man Dex shook his head, biting his bottom lip lightly as he tried to contain a fraction of his anger and irritation. "Last time I looked Carrington it was a free country and since no one died and made you God I don't owe you a damn thing…However since I think the answer is obvious I'll save you the strain of having to work it out, Old Man. I am here probably for the same damn reason you are…"

"The mines." Blake cut Dexter's sanctimonious rant off; he had heard enough of the younger man's pretentious spiel.

"Exactly." Dex snapped back his dark eyes glinting dangerously, his broad shoulders hunched, tensed as if preparing for trouble. "Now if you have a problem with a little competition Carrington…Tough!"

"I don't have a problem with a little competition Dexter." Blake countered, emphasising the little part, unable to contain the fissure of pleasure as the muscles in Dex's jaw clenched, it was good to be able to rattle Dexter's cage, the young fool just didn't know how lucky he was, he already had Alexis and a healthy son why did he need more?

"However if you have a problem with me being here…"

"I have a problem with you period Carrington." Dex snapped the feelings he had long suppressed bubbling up as he warred with the instinct to smack that smug look right off of Blake's face. So instead he forced himself to stare out to sea, to watch the crashing waves in an effort to centre himself.

Leaning against the balustrade Blake watched Dex try to keep a rein on his temper, he could see Dex's hands closing around the railing, his knuckes white as he gripped it tightly. That was the younger man's greatest failing, not his ability as an oilman but his inability to stop every single thing he thought and felt from showing on his face. It was a weakness that others would use against him. Dex was too easy to provoke to violence, too quick to temper and Blake could only wonder where the reserves of patience were hidden that Dexter must have to be able to live with a hot-headed woman like Alexis.

"You are hardly my favourite person either." Blake replied honestly earning a small scoff from Dexter. "But I won't let that get in the way of making a deal, just don't get in my way…"

"No you don't get in my way!" Dex snapped back his voice deep and powerful as he turned back to face the older man. "We still have an appointment, remember?" Dex added watching as the realisation settled on Blake's tanned face and for a moment Carrington's superior look seemed to slide and something akin to shame seemed to flicker in the older mans eyes.

Yet that look of contrition was not enough to quench the howling beast that roared deep in Dex's belly, the one that seemed to stir whenever even the thought of Blake Carrington crossed Dex's mind. Now standing face to face with the older man Dex felt that beast begin to crawl up his throat, the need for penance and retribution bubbling up until Dex could barely keep a lid on his desire to punch the arrogance out of Carrington.

"I remember." Blake answered softly, in truth how could he forget? Alexis's frightened face and the way she had shrank from him still woke him up some nights in a cold sweat.

"Well don't think I have let you off the hook because I sure as hell haven't, the only reason I haven't torn you to shreds before now is that you have a daughter young enough to be upset by her Daddy needing to be fed his dinner through a straw!"

Snorting at the younger man's words Blake almost choked on the bullshit. "You talk big Dexter but we both know it is not Krystina holding you back. Alexis would never forgive you and we both know that is the real reason."

"Don't mention her!" Dex spat back. "You are not even fit to think her name let alone say it."

"Sounds like I touched a nerve Dexter." Blake muttered shaking his head at the younger man, a good man, yet one clearly wrapped up in grief and repressed rage, both at his father and anger with Alexis that he dare not express for fear of where it might lead.

"Well I can't erase the past Dexter and neither can you, no matter how much you might wish it. Alexis was my wife, she is the mother of my children, we are a family, we are part of each other and there is nothing you can do to change that. She will always love me."

"Stop…I am warning you Carrington…." Dex growled. "You're just a bitter old man, Alexis is with me and you cannot stand that, so instead of trying to poison her mind why don't you back off and let her be happy."

"I already backed off!" Blake spat. "But because Alexis asked me to, no other reason. So if there are problems in your relationship they aren't of my making but your own." Blake continued ignoring the warning signs, he knew he was pushing Dexter's buttons but in his defence the younger man was making it all too easy.

Shaking his head Blake resisted the urge to reach out and throttle Dexter. Didn't the young fool realise he was repeating mistakes that Blake knew he himself had been guilty of? Of bottling up his emotions until they spewed out in one violent eruption, keeping himself closed off from Alexis not letting her in to help with the very real torment he was going through. Keeping his grief buried down and not facing it but turning to work to try and sooth the ache. It was the wrong road to go down and Blake knew that better than most.

Despite their differing ages and backgrounds it was almost disturbing how similar the two of them really were, both growing up despising their fathers determined to outshine them. Both falling in love with the same woman; both making the same mistakes of shutting her out at the very time when they should be letting her in.

There was only one silver lining in this troubled sky and Blake couldn't help but mutter. "Perhaps I won't have to wait quite as long as I thought."

He didn't even have a chance to blink before Dexter's right fist connected with his jaw, and the force of the blow made Blake stagger back, the only thought flying across his mind was that it was lucky it hadn't been his nose as it surely would have broken as he raised his own arms in defence warding off another blow. He didn't have time to even consider fighting back, Dexter was like a man possessed, a mad dog and Blake could only pray he lived through this.

Dex wasn't thinking. It was if a red haze had descended and his fist's yet flying, he ignored Blake's splutter of surprise as he knocked the wind out of him and something gave a painful sounding crack. All that mattered was landing the blows. Yet as Carrington raised his arms to protect himself Dex felt his fury grow, the bastard deserved this, he deserved to feel every second of the fear, pain and hopelessness that Alexis had felt at his hands.

Suddenly punches weren't enough Dex needed to see the realisation in Carrington's eyes, his strong hands reached out and gripped the older man's collar hauling him back to his feet ignoring the way Blake seemed to stagger as if punch drunk. His hands tightened around the older man's neck as Dex shook him like limp puppet.

Everything ached. Blake had endured longer beatings but the suddenness and severity of Dexter's attack had left him wrong footed. He tried to roll with the punches as best he could but he lacked the agileness of his youth, and that blow to his chest had definitely cracked a rib or two leaving Blake breathless and reeling. Feeling Dexter's strong hands about his throat, fingers pressing and closing off his air Blake felt light headed. Yet although Blake thought he had deserved the beating for all he had done to hurt Alexis, this was going too far and there was only thing that might reach the unhinged Dexter right now.

"Do it." Blake wheezed as Dex's strong hands closed about his throat, his dark eyes lifting to bore into Dexter's own. "Alexis…never…forgive…"Blake managed to gasp out and it was like throwing ice cold water on a raging fire, for a moment Dexter froze the haze in his eyes lifting.

"Oh god." Dex gasped releasing Blake so fast that the older man slumped to the floor from the sudden loss of support his bruised hands coming up to cradle his aching ribs.

"God what I have I done." Dex continued to babble as thread after thread continued to unravel. This was it. He had lost it, gone too far and with it Dex could see his dreams vanishing as well. Alexis would never understand this never forgive it. Already he could see her in his minds eye, the horror and disbelief in her beautiful eyes at the mindless violence he had evoked on a much older man who hadn't even fought back. She would never forgive him for this… "Alexis oh god I…"

Sinking to the floor his head in his hands Dex felt his grief bubble up and combine with his realisation and tears prickled behind his eyes. He had just handed his greatest rival the ammunition he needed to destroy him, and what made it all the worse was that Dex knew he had no one other than himself to blame.

Tapping her nails on the lacquered surface of her desk Alexis tried to feign an interest in the paperwork before her, or even the dry report that Adam was summarising for her. Yet even when she tried to concentrate Alexis found her gaze wandering across the room to rest on a certain painting.

It was so maddening and intriguing, who the hell was this Ethan Hailsworth? Forcing her mind back to the exhibition to the few words they had exchanged, Alexis ran through them again in her mind. She tried to remember his voice as clearly as she could but it wasn't familiar. Damn the man was a mystery, a conundrum and Alexis Colby loved nothing better than solving a puzzle.

"Mother did you even hear a word I said?"

"Hmmm…What sorry Adam, did you say something?" Alexis jarred back to the present to see her eldest son huff in annoyance.

"Honestly you didn't hear a word I said, I don't know why I bother." Adam spat out bitterly his blue eyes narrowing on his mother as she continued to stare blankly at him. Did no one listen when he spoke any more? First Dana and now Alexis, was he simply obsolete to the women in this family?

"Adam don't take that tone with me." Alexis spat back, not enjoying her son's temper tantrum. "I was distracted. Look just leave the report, I'll read it for myself later."

"Fine." Adam snapped slapping the portfolio down on the desk before storming out not even pausing as he almost bowled over Mark and the badly suited gentleman behind him. Glancing at his watch it was almost lunchtime, perhaps he should give Marin a call and take her out for lunch, at least she bothered to listen when he opened his mouth.

Watching the Carrington heir storm off in a huff Mark shot an apologetic look to the man by his side before reaching up to rap on his bosses door. Sometimes it was wisest to simply not ask, and if Adam was in a bad mood then the odds were good that so was Alexis. Part of him almost pitied Alexis's next appointment having to go in to face that, but then one further glance at the man's horrendous green sharks-tooth weave jacket and clashing lime tie made him reconsider. Anyone guilty of such a crime against fashion deserved everything they got.

Hearing Alexis's restrained "Come in." Mark smiled encouragingly before opening the door quailing slightly as Alexis scowled. Yet undeterred Mark ushered the waiting victim inside, thankful that for once the one to bear the brunt of Alexis's temper wouldn't be him.

"Mr Morgan Hess to see you Mrs Colby."

Part 3:

There were very few times in his life that Jackson Hobbs felt the need to apologise. He had always been a man who shot from the hip, who said it like he saw it. He felt the personal distance he always kept from others enabled him to remain objective and not hurtful. Yet he hadn't been personally removed from his conversation with Krystle, he had allowed his own feelings and history to cloud his judgement and as such he had been harsher than perhaps the situation warranted.

What did he know about Krystle?

About Blake Carrington and their relationship other than the information he had picked up via the gossips and from overhearing conversations between Alexis and Fallon.

Everything came second hand…

Well apart from that time he had wandered into the stables after the hands had given him a heads up only to find Alexis and Blake in the middle of an argument that looked moments away from getting hot and heavy. No Jackson was certain Carrington was still in love with Alexis and despite the fact that she was in a serious relationship with Dexter there was no denying Alexis's eyes seemed to gain an extra sparkle whenever her first husband's name came up.

Still that was none of his affair and Jackson had made it his policy not to intervene in other people's business, they took notice and started asking uncomfortable questions.

Yet during his stay in Denver Jackson had found that policy being stretched to its limits, he felt at home here, something he had never felt before. He genuinely liked Alexis and his work at the stud, Fallon was a lot of fun when she wasn't bitching at him, and even Dexter was tolerable company. He felt like the long lost cousin in a dysfunctional family, not the perpetual nomad afraid to set down roots for fear of them being ripped out from under him again.

Perhaps it really was time to move on, to head back to Europe and forget all these plans for revenge…Yet every time he considered it something came up to remind him why he was doing this in the first place.

Bringing his jeep to a stop Jackson dark mood lifted slightly as he caught sight of the very person he had come to see, leading her mount back through the paddock gate towards the stable block.

"Krystle wait up."

If Krystle was surprised by his sudden arrival she was certainly proficient at hiding it, her level Prairie gaze was polite yet cool as she waited for Jackson to jog over.

"Mr Hobbs." Krystle greeted Jackson coolly, trying to squash down the feelings of embarrassment that crowded up.

The scene from Colby Acres had played heavily on her mind for the last few days and Krystle could barely recall the exchange without cringing. She had reacted badly to what were on reflection some blunt home truths. Jackson had said anything that deep down she hadn't already known it was just that she hadn't wanted to hear them and Krystle had taken that out on the unfortunate messenger.

"Jackson…Sorry that was rude of me, in fact I feel I ought to apologise for my behaviour the other day…"

"Funny that was the one of the reasons why I came to see you." Jackson snorted shaking his dark head, his blue eyes twinkling as Krystle flushed further with embarrassment. "I came down rather hard on you and I shouldn't have. It is none of my business how you chose to live your life…"

"Except for the fact that you were right." Krystle muttered. "I didn't want to face it then and I am finding it hard to accept now, perhaps Blake being away it has helped me think clearly."

Space combined with the fact that in a few short weeks since loosing Denver Carrington Blake hadn't turned to her once, preferring to talk to Jeff and turning aside any of her offers to spend time together. Blake had moved on, during their year apart he had become a different person, one that sometimes Krystle didn't even recognise.

Yet it was in her nature to cling to the familiar, and after being married to him for the last nine years of her life, years that had shaped and moulded her into a different person. Krystle just didn't know who she was or what she was going to do with her life if she wasn't going to be Mrs Blake Carrington.

"I can't imagine this has been easy and I know of few people who would be so gracious as to admit it." Jackson replied generously smiling slightly as Krystle's mask seemed to waver slightly. "You know if you someone to talk to…"

Jackson could help the offer, it broke all of his rules but it was just so hard to look at Krystle and not see Helen. It wasn't a physical similarity but more the personality traits they seemed to share. That otherworldly air and innocence that others seemed to lose as they grew up; the inability to see anything but the best in those they loved. It made them vulnerable and Jackson couldn't quash the protective instincts that flared up when he saw them being taken advantage of. His baby sister's belief in people had only gotten her killed and Blake Carrington may not be Tommy. For one he wasn't a complete sociopath just a manipulative controlling egomaniac, but what was the old saying the apple never falls far from the tree? 

"Thank you." Krystle's reply was more curt that normal, and she tried to soften it with a smile, but far too many men had exploited being her shoulder to cry for their own ends and there was something about Jackson Hobbs that screamed danger. "I think for the time being I need to work this through on my own. So what was the other reason?"

At Jackson's confused expressed a genuine smile tugged Krystle's lips. "You said apologising was one of the reasons you came to see me, so what was the other?"

Laughing at her quick retort Jackson muttered. "Are you sure you're not a lawyer? Fine I came to ask a favour actually. I have a dealer bringing over some breeding stock he wants me to take a look at, and at these prices a second pair of eyes wouldn't go amiss."

"You want me to help you?"

"Unless you already have plans?" Jackson retorted a knowing smile playing about his lips since they both knew she didn't.

Fighting a loosing battle against those dimples Krystle could only think of one obstruction. "Somehow I doubt Alexis will appreciate my involvement."

Smirking Jackson threaded his hand through her arm and tugged a semi-reluctant Krystle towards his jeep. "Who said anything about telling her?"

"Mummy are you going to eat that or simply push it around your plate?" The mothering tone and censure was barely concealed in Fallon's tone and Alexis struggled to contain her irritation. As much as she loved her children they had a tendency to try and parent her, if Steven wasn't lecturing then Adam was rolling his eyes in disapproval or Fallon was nagging her.

Dropping her fork dramatically Alexis scowled down at the halibut she had demolished, she really wasn't hungry right now but when Fallon had rung and practically begged her mother to join her for lunch at the Carlton Alexis had relented. She hadn't spent that much time with Fallon lately, business, Dex and Jack had taken up most of her time leaving little free for her other children.

"Mummy?"

Staring up from her fish Alexis barely caught the look of conflict on Fallon's face before it was hidden behind a hesitant smile.

"I was thinking that since Dex is away we might have a girls night in, you put on some of those black and white Cary Grant films that you love. I'll bring home some of Carlos's world famous chocolate fudge cake…"

Sighing Alexis thought of the mountain of paperwork still waiting for her back at the office, and with Jeff in Australia Alexis was having to handle much of the day to day handling of Denver Carrington as well as Colby Co, "Fallon…"

"Mummy please." Fallon insisted her big blue eyes wide. "Since Dex moved in and you took over Denver Carrington we have barely spent any time together, I am happy that you are happy but I feel like I am loosing my mother."

And that was the crux of the matter. Alexis knew she had been wrapped up in her own life that she had been ignoring her daughter's problems, first the break up with Jeff and now this dangerous liaison she had going on with Jackson. Steven had run away to New York and she hadn't even tried to stop him, Adam was self-destructing and Alexis had done nothing to help.

In truth she had been avoiding thinking about it and that was not like Alexis. Usually she was the first to storm in, normally uninvited, into her children's problems. Yet lately she had been too preoccupied with her own life and problems, finding new ways to reassure Dex that she wasn't about to fall into Blake's arms the moment Dex gave her room to breathe.

Was it wrong to feel relieved rather than disappointed that business took him away from home?

Right now Alexis knew she should have felt on top of the world, she had practically everything she had ever wanted. She had her children back; Fallon and her grandchildren were even living with her. She had a gorgeous young lover who was devoted to her, a new baby and two empires. Yet if you peered beneath the surface the cracks were too easy to spot and Alexis was exhausted from the strain of holding everything together.

"Alright it's a date." Alexis caved relieved when Fallon smiled warmly, and didn't press the matter further.

"Now please try and eat your fish you'll hurt Carlos's feelings and you know how temperamental chefs can be."

Sighing Alexis shook off her daughter's teasing, relieved when the waiter came to take her plate away. "Sorry Fallon I guess I am just not that hungry."

Watching as her mother fiddled with her water glass Fallon felt her concern go up a few notches. "Mummy are you alright, you look exhausted?"

Reaching for her purse Alexis selected a cigarette, lighting it she drew in a lungful of smoke, before breathing out, surveying Fallon's concerned gaze through the haze. "Is that a polite way of saying I look rough today?"

"No Mother you always look beautiful." Fallon retorted shaking her head as her mother tried to brush her concern aside. "However you do look like you could do with a good night's sleep and I would bet my last nickel the cause is called Dexter?"

"I can manage Fallon." Alexis insisted flicking her ash into the crystal ashtray. "And my relationship with Dex is off limits."

"So we can't even talk about it?" Fallon scoffed. "Well who else do you plan to talk to because you need to talk to someone? Is it because he is on a trip, you not afraid he might…" Fallon broke off suddenly a slight flush tingeing her cheeks as she squirmed slightly under Alexis's scrutiny.

"Afraid he might what?" Alexis demanded her English accent so clipped it could cut glass as her emerald eyes tried to meet and hold Fallon's gaze but her daughter was studiously avoiding her.

"Nothing forget I said anything…How about dessert?" Fallon added reaching for the small dessert menu, gasping in surprise when her mother's manicured fingers plucked it out of her grasp.

"Fallon don't play games with me!" Alexis hissed. "You obviously have something on your mind so lets hear it."

"Fine! Aren't you the last bit worried that given his track record whilst you sit at home and play the devoted housewife Dex is falling into someone else's bed? Even you have to admit he hasn't been himself the last few days, secretive and moody, biting people's heads off for no reason. Have you given pause to think why? Perhaps he is afraid you are going to find out…"

Scoffing at her daughter's ridiculous suggestion Alexis shook her head, retrieving her purse as she stood to leave, true she had herself noted Dex's change of behaviour but the idea of another woman…

"That is absurd, Dex and I are very happy, true he has been moodier lately but considering the man has just lost his father I think you should cut him a little slack and not jump to the worst conclusion. Honestly Fallon I thought better of you, I know you would prefer your father and I to reconcile but I didn't think you would resort to stirring up old gossip in order to accomplish it."

"Mummy…"

"No Fallon I don't want to hear it. Dex and I are fine, there is no reason for him to jump into bed with anyone, now if you don't mind I have much more important things to be doing than listening to your paranoid delusions." Alexis insisted turning on her heel and storming towards the exit only to be stopped by Fallon's front of house manager.

"Forgive me Mrs Colby but we have a telephone call for you, the caller insists it is imperative they speak with you immediately. If you would care to follow me…"

Intrigued Alexis followed grasping the handset. "Hello this is Alexis Colby."

"Oh Mrs Colby thank goodness I found you, it's Patrick from the house, you need to get back here we have uninvited visitor who is refusing to leave…I threatened to call the police but she insists that it would not be in your best interests to do that…"

Frowning as Patrick continued to babble nervously Alexis felt her last shred of patience give. "Let me speak to her."

There was a pause and then a familiar voice could be heard drawling down the line, a voice that made Alexis blood run cold. "Hello Alexis."

Part 4:

Taking his seat at the long dinner table that was doubling for the boardroom in the villa Blake felt his ribs protest the movement. He could have hidden away in his room, but it was going to take longer than an afternoon for the bruises from his encounter with Dex on the terrace to fade and Blake wasn't prepared to lose out on this deal as well as losing the fight.

And he had definitely lost the fight. One glance in the mirror had confirmed that.

Blake had done his best from the supplies in the bathroom, his lip had stopped bleeding and had scabbed over but there was no hiding the purpling bruise on his jaw nor the red finger marks that circled his neck. All he could do was change his shirt to one that didn't have bloodstains on it and clean himself up the best he could.

Still his reflection was a picture and not a pretty one, more like something out of a horror or gangster movie and it took of Blake's self control not react when the other guests glanced in his direction only to blatantly whisper about him. Funnily the only person who wasn't looking at him, who was making a point not to was Dexter who took his own seat at the table without even glancing in Blake's direction.

However fortunately for Blake the real main attraction chose that moment to arrive. Snr Carlos Fernandez stepped into the room, his greying curls sleeked back from his tanned face like a well-oiled otter, dark eyes moving quickly and greedily over the assembled group.

"My friends I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for coming to see me." Carlos expounded running his pudgey heavily ringed finger along the edge of his moustache as he lowered his considerable frame into the seat at the head of the table.

"I know you have all come here because you have heard about the investment opportunity. My mining corporation is in the process of considerable expansion and new development requires new money. However you will have to forgive me for deceiving you all, I have since changed my mind…"

"What?" Dexter's growl was distinguishable above the heated hubbub that didn't calm until Carlos raised his hands for order.

"My friends I did not mean to deceive you, however instead of offering 50% shares I am now offering the entire company, lock stock and barrel…For the right price of course." Carlos added a sly smile playing about his thick lips.

"I propose an auction of sealed to take place in two days time, you may use the time in between to tour the mines, feel free to bring in your own experts and to talk to my site managers…And of course to enjoy my hospitality. Tonight a special dinner will be held on the lower terrace I hope to see each of you there…May the best man…or woman win?"

Alexis's limousine broke most of Denver's traffic code but they managed to make it back to the ranch not twenty minutes after Alexis slammed down the receiver at the Carlton. The entire way Alexis grip on the door handle tightened until her knuckles turned white, her mind in turmoil as to what awaited her at home. Alexis's temper boiled as she considered the nerve of the woman, barging into her home as if nothing had happened and if anything did happen Alexis knew she would never forgive herself.

Dex would never forgive her…

Pulling up outside the ranch house Alexis didn't wait for Eric to open the door she had pushed it open and was storming towards the front door, pushing it open and sending Patrick reeling.

"Mrs Colby…"

"Where is she?" Alexis growled her tone so icy that Patrick visibly quailed.

"In the nursery."

Taking a deep breath Alexis managed to choke down the urge to scream and lash out at the man for his stupidity. "The nursery."

Swallowing nervously Patrick's could almost see his life flashing before his eyes. "She had a visitation order…She said I could go to jail if I refused her entrance…"

"Well you should have done just that!" Alexis spat pushing past him only pausing long enough to hiss back. "Consider yourself fired."

Then storming along the corridor to the nursery Alexis froze in the doorway as all her worst nightmare's seemed to coalesce into one. There standing with Jack in her arms was Monica Colby, smiling down and cooing at the oblivious helpless baby in her arms. Then as if sensing the new presence Monica looked across her happy face dropping as she caught sight of Alexis.

Jack by contrast gurgled with excitement, his pudgey fingers reaching out towards Alexis, his little mouth opening as he squealed and began to chatter away just like he had the past few weeks. At first nothing discernable but then…

"."

Smirking Alexis felt her confidence return and she stalked into the room her emerald eyes locked on a horrified Monica. "Get the hell away from my son!"

The sun had set about an hour ago yet the air was still pleasantly warm and brightly coloured lanterns string along the balustrade and hanging from the sweet smelling citrus trees provided enough light. Blake had opted for white tie, feeling it gave a hint of the exotic and given his tropical surroundings it was the perfect fit. It certainly fit in with some of the striking outfits on display, the bright colours and scantily clad outfits of some of the Brazilian beauties Carlos had clearly shipped in for the occasion.

Several young ladies had already approached him fluttering their dark long lashes; a man alone must surely be needing companionship. At first Blake had turned them down as politely as he could, yet when they kept coming even he had succumbed to the inevitable and allowed himself to be dragged to onto the small dance floor. Now several dances later Blake had managed to excuse himself, escaping before the young lady could object too strenuously.

In fact the evening would have been pleasant all round were it not for the burning sting from his split lip that smarted every time he took a sip of his champagne, starkly reminding him of the events of earlier that day.

Fortunately no one her really knew him, oh they knew him by name, might even recognise his face from the papers or a fleeting introduction at a society party. They weren't his peers, and so even though they gossiped about him and looked down their noses at the ruffian amongst them, Blake found it easy to brush their criticisms aside. In fact part of him actually relished it, as it wasn't hard to draw a parallel between now and back when he was first starting out in the oil business. His rough wildcatter appearance had drawn more than a few comments back then, and with this new challenge almost at his fingertips Blake almost felt young again.

"You're looking pretty damned pleased with yourself." Dexter's Wyoming drawl shattered Blake's silent reflection. "Well I suppose with all those girls young enough to be your granddaughter chasing after you…You do know it is only the fact that you are rich and single that interests them." Dex added smugly his dark eyes raking over the older man.

"Jealous Dexter?" Blake retorted refusing to rise to Dex's bait, "Now is that all you came over to say or did you simply come over here because you had no one else to talk to?"

"Perhaps I came over to finish the job I started earlier!"

Snorting Blake shook his head. "To give me a broken nose to go with the split lip?"

"It might actually improve your looks, improve your chances with the ladies, you've had such bad luck lately Carrington." Dex taunted before coming to the real reason he had wandered over, to ask the question that had been plaguing his thoughts all afternoon. "Well have you done it yet?"

"Done what?"

"Don't play dumb Carrington. You know what, have you told Alexis what happened yet?"

Taking a deep sip of his champagne Blake did his best to hide the wince of pain, allowing his gaze to drift out to sea and away from Dexter's demands.

"Don't ignore me Blake, this is my life you are playing with, at least have the decency to face me and tell me the truth."

"No." Blake answered simply turning his head slightly and watching the clash of anger and confusion that played openly across Dex's face.

"No you don't have the decency or No you haven't told her?" Dex demanded his fingers itching to reach out and grasp Blake's lapels, to shake the damn truth out of him if need be.

"No I haven't told her Dex, surprisingly I have been a little busy. I came down here for business Dex not to play twenty questions with you!"

"But you are going to?" Dex cut in refusing to let the matter drop. "Please I know you Blake, I know how you operate, you would never let an opportunity pass you by in business or personally without shaking every cent of profit out of it. So forgive me if I labour the point." Dex drawled sarcastically. "I guess I would appreciate a little notice before you try to destroy my relationship."

Snorting Blake tried to suppress the flicker of amusement; something that he clearly failed to do if the glare Dex shot him was any indication. "Has anyone ever told you that you sound more than a little paranoid Dexter?"

"It's only paranoia if people aren't out to get you." Dex snapped back. "And I think we both know where we each stand on this. I have Alexis and you want her back, and you'll do just about anything to achieve that, including goading me into giving you your just desserts."

"You know Dexter somehow I doubt Alexis would appreciate you talking about her like a possession. She isn't an oil well to be traded back and forth, she does have her own mind and can make her own decisions…"

"After you have spoon-fed her your version of events." Dex hissed turning and grabbing his own drink from one of the passing waiters, knocking back the champagne.

"You know I find it fascinating." Blake muttered shaking his head in disbelief at the younger man. "Are you so insecure, do you have such little faith in your relationship, in Alexis that you honestly think this little spat will send her running into my arms?"

Gritting his teeth Dex's grip on his glass tightened dangerously. "Why not? Last time all it took was you turning up at her door acting the victim and she more than fell into your arms that night!"

Stunned for a moment Blake couldn't find the words. "She told you?"

"Her dirty little secret, the two of you together…" Dex spat with contempt. "Yes she told me."

"And you simply forgave her?"

"No there was nothing simple about it!" Dex snapped his dark eyes blazing as they bore into Blake's own, then suddenly the fire seemed to dim and Dex slumped slightly against the balustrade. "I love her…I can't lose her again and we would be just fine if people would just leave us alone…If it's not you, then it's my father, Marin, Fallon…Nobody wants us together, well I am not letting her go, you all can go to hell first!"

Surprised by Dex's outburst Blake did file away the mention of Fallon for later, perhaps another chat with his daughter was in order, yet it was the mention of Sam that really caught his attention.

"Your father loved you Dex." Blake insisted, ignoring the scoff of disbelief from his companion. "However I admit the way he sometimes chose to show that love left a lot to be desired."

"An understatement if ever I heard one." Dex mumbled sullenly staring out at the moving midnight sea, his eyes locked on the occasionally flash of white surf.

Sighing Blake turned to glance back at the party, the bright lights and happy company was inviting, certainly more attractive then spending any more time in Dexter's company and yet….Sam Dexter had been a good friend over the years, and Blake couldn't help but feel he owed it to his memory to try and pull Dexter from this depression he was sliding into.

"Sometimes it is damn hard to be a parent." Blake sighed, the weariness in his tone catching Dex's attention and for a moment his defences seemed to slip. "You'll find this out as your son grows up Dex, the older they get the harder it seems to become to find ways to show them just how much you love them. When they are little, a hug, an ice cream, just reading them a bedtime story is enough, when they are grown up…" Blake trailed off shaking his head.

"I think…As twisted as it may sound… Sam's ultimatum wasn't a sign of how little he cared but rather just how much he did love you…"

"Don't be ridiculous Carrington. What part of humiliating and disinheriting your own child shows them how much you love them?" Dex spat back.

Sighing Blake ran his free hand through his silver hair as he struggled to put his thoughts into order. "I said it sounded twisted."

"And you were right, about that at least."

"I just think that sometimes as a parent you find yourself having to be the bad guy because you know in the long run it will be for the best…"

"And what part of giving Marin Dexter International was for my own good?" Dex retorted. "Please Carrington thrill me with you insight, I find it fascinating, how the hell can my father giving Marin the company I worked my arse off for be anything other than blatant favouritism?"

"Did Sam love Dexter International?"

The sudden change of tack wrong footed Dex for a minute, his dark eyes distant as he considered Blake's question. Despite his father's lack of real ambition and ability, Sam had always wanted the best for Dexter International, which was why he had handed Dexter control at such a young age and why despite everything his leaving it all to Marin made no sense. How could Marin do anything but run the company into the ground? "I suppose…Yes he did."

Pausing before revealing his final argument Blake let out a relieved sigh, at least Dex seemed to be meeting him halfway but that might soon change. "So if he loved the company then as CEO he would want the best for it, which no offence to your sister Dexter certainly isn't her… Even if you were completely estranged from your father if he loved Dexter International at all then he would have still left it to you rather than see the family legacy wiped out…The only reason that makes any sense to me was that Sam gave his ultimatum out of love…"

"Perhaps I hit you to hard Blake, you're starting to talk nonsense."

"No I'm not!" Blake snapped pushing aside the younger man's defensive jibe. "Look rightly or wrongly your father thought Alexis was the wrong woman for you, and to be fair considering your past history he had more than enough evidence to support that opinion."

Blake thundered on ignoring Dex's attempt to protest. "You've been hurt emotionally and more importantly you almost died, Sam believed because of your involvement with her…Perhaps as your father this was his last ditch attempt to protect you from yourself…Perhaps he had no choice but to become the bad guy in the hope that somehow he could force you to make the right decision that you were incapable of making yourself."

For a moment an uneasy silence descended between them Dex's dark eyes locked on Blake's as if searching for any hidden agenda or subterfuge and when he found only resolute certainty staring back Dex was unable to hold Blake's gaze.

Shaking his head as if trying to shake off the spell that Blake's impassioned speech had cast Dex refused to allow the idea room to breath. "Nice try Carrington." Dex muttered turning and changing his empty champagne glass for a new one, stepping away from the balustrade intent of heading back to the party. "But my father was a selfish bastard, there was nothing noble about his sacrifice and there is nothing you or anyone can say that will ever convince there was."

Part 5:

-

Surely that damn crack had to have grown, it hadn't been that large the last time she checked…God that had to have been weeks, no nearly two months, or was it her memory playing tricks on her after all, or perhaps the pre-dawn haze was distorting things?

The truth was subjective, wasn't that what they said?

However there was one that was undisputable. Alexis Colby had barely slept a wink in the middle of her king sized bed ensconced in her luxuriant thousand thread count sheets. Struck down once more by insomnia Alexis found herself staring across the room at that damn crack that worked its way down from the ceiling to behind her dressing table; something that she hadn't done in months or more precisely since Dex had moved onto the ranch and into her bedroom. Unsurprisingly he always found more creative ways of keeping Alexis occupied when she found herself unable to sleep.

Well Dex wasn't here to distract her now…Although considering the nature of the thoughts keeping Alexis awake, it was probably beneficial to his health that he was safely in Brazil, because if he had been here…

No Alexis mentally commanded, scrunching her eyes tight in an effort to force certain thoughts aside, she wasn't going to keep going over and over this until it drove her mad. No she had already decided Monica was lying, hadn't she said as much when that little bitch first opened her mouth and spewed forth her tall tales?

Dex wouldn't…he couldn't do that to her…

Except that his track record hardly stood him in good stead, the insidious part of her slyly commented, the suspicious paranoid thoughts that kept trickling in to her mind no matter whether she wanted to think them or not and despite her willpower Alexis found herself unable to dam them up.

Fine Dex had cheated on her in the past both with Amanda and Sable and….

Groaning Alexis turned and grasped Dex's pillow pulling it over her face. Just the thought of Dex sleeping with her…God it turned her stomach…No Monica had to be lying, it was all an elaborate fabrication, and yet as she thought back to the vindictive little smirk on Monica's face as she delivered that delicious little bombshell.

_"Maaammmaaaaaa." Jack's innocent exclamation had sent Alexis's heart pounding, for a moment she could have burst with pride and happiness and then she realised just who was here sharing what should have been a perfect moment._

"Get the hell away from my son!"

"What did you say?" For a moment Monica seemed genuinely sideswiped her blue eyes wide with shock and horror, then it passed at her game face returned. Pulling a squirming Jack more firmly into her arms she blatantly ignored Alexis's command. Yet Jack remained oblivious to the rising tension, as he smiled gummily at his 'mother' flashing his two new teeth, his pudgey arms held expectantly for a hug.

"You heard me." Alexis retorted stalking into the room watching warily as Monica backed up to match her until she reached the wall and ran out of space. "Now hand me my son Monica or believe me there will be no flicker of hesitation before I call the police and have you charged with trespassing and endangering a minor!"

"Big words." Monica spat. "But no matter how hard you try to convince yourself Alexis you are not Jack's mother. Sable is his mother, she carried him, she gave birth to him, you will only ever be a substitute and a poor one at that. Deep down even you know he will never really be yours, he will always be hers, he will always be a reminder that you weren't good enough and Dexter couldn't keep his hands or his cock where they belonged!"

It was a struggle and Alexis could only hope it didn't show on her face just how Monica's words had cut her to the quick. In her own mind she had honestly been thinking of Jack as hers and Dex's, the baby they hadn't been blessed with during their marriage. Somehow she had managed to push Jack's connection to Sable into the deepest recesses of her mind, thinking of her as little more than a vessel for the child and never as his mother.

However now the band-aid had been ripped of violently and Alexis was left reeling. If Sable had lived Jack wouldn't be here, he wouldn't be hers, he wouldn't be smiling at her and calling her mother, and he wouldn't care that she wasn't in his life because he would have had his real mother. The fact he was here with her was only a whim of fate, and yet another whim could take him out of her life just as easily.

"Just give him to me!" Alexis hissed emerald eyes flashing as she fought down the urge to slap the little witch across the face, yet letting Monica goad her into violence was just what Monica was hoping for and there was no way Alexis was going to give her the satisfaction.

"Why should I give him to you?" Monica simpered. "I mean you're just his father's lover, you have no connection to him other than through Dex, you have no legal right to him…whereas I…" Monica paused juggling Jack to retrieve a paper from her pocket. "See for yourself in black and white, I have visitation rights, four hours minimum every fortnight."

Snatching the court order from Monica's hand Alexis felt her stomach flip, it was real enough; how the hell had Dex not known anything about this? How had a judge allowed it, surely there was a procedure that needed following, notification had to be given?

As if sensing Alexis's unspoken question, or perhaps it was simply an inbuilt desire to gloat Monica was only too delighted to fill in the blanks.

"Oh it is all official, I filed the petition at Denver County Court two weeks ago, went through all the standard social care checks, the judge signed off on it this morning. It's Dexter fault of he doesn't bother to pick up his mail from his registered address. Beside it's too late to object now Alexis, not that you could have done in any case, I mean we both know you have no legal footing here, only Dex could have objected and well I suppose he'd been a little too busy…had his hands full with other wom… matters."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Alexis hissed through gritted teeth her patience now having come to an end.

"Just what is sounds like, come now Alexis you don't think miraculously that this time Dexter has actually been faithful?" Monica scoffed. "First he sleeps with me…"

"That was before." Alexis cut in relishing the look of surprise on Monica's face.

"So he told you?"

"Oh he told me plenty, how you threw yourself at him and then when he realised what a mistake he had made how you turned into some sort of deranged stalker. I also know that although we can't prove your involvement with Dex's kidnapping and the explosion that it has your grubby little fingerprints all over it!"

"Really I always thought explosions were more your thing Alexis." Monica retorted. "Or weren't you the one who had eight tankers sunk just because you couldn't accept my mother had outmanoeuvred you…Surely you remember, it was during your trip to Paris that Dex and my mother conceived Jack…I almost find it amusing that it was your own arrogance that brought us all here Alexis…Well that and Dexter's wandering eye." Monica scoffed her blue eyes narrowing.

"First Tracy, then Amanda, Leslie…or doesn't she count? Oh no of course you weren't with Dex when he slept with her, it was your fourth husband she slept with whilst you were together…Sable oh and lets also not forget he was also cheating on you with that charming agent of Mother's…I forget the name." Monica paused for effect watching as that new piece of news hit home. "Oh didn't you know about that one…My my Mr Dexter sure gets around, he's almost been in as many beds as you were during your marriage to Blake!"

"Get out!" Alexis growled. "I mean it, get out before I have you thrown out!"

"Touched a nerve have we?" Monica's smug smile was almost a mile wide. "Well that's nothing to how you are going to feel, I mean learning Dex cheated on you in the past is one thing but…"

"If you are trying to imply that there is something going on between you and Dex…" Alexis began only to stop as Monica burst out laughing.

"God no I wouldn't touch him with a barge pole, god knows what I would catch from him these days. I mean I know Dexter drops his jeans for pretty much any woman who shows a passing interest but screwing the girl next door is a little too pathetic even for him, is he too lazy to go out and find someone to fuck?" Monica spat bitterly her annoyance only growing as Jack finally lost his patience with being ignored and began to wail and squirm in her arms and so caving to the inevitable Monica relinquished him into Alexis's arms.

Smoothing the hair back from his forehead Alexis felt herself physically relax when she had the reassuring weight of Jack in her arms, even if he continued to sniffle and sob, running his tears and slightly snotty nose against her bare neck. "Just get out."

"Oh I see." Monica tutted shaking her long head her long brown hair sweeping over her shoulder as she bent to pick up her handbag. "Fine don't believe me, but even you have to believe your own eyes." And with that she slid out some glossy prints and slammed them down on the nearby changing matt.

Staring down at them Alexis could feel her throat closing up, Dex with his arms around a familiar red head, their bodies pressed together.

"Personally this is my favourite one." Monica added maliciously sorting through the pile. It was a close-up, the angle made it difficult to tell whether or not Dex was surprised or pleased, but one thing was certainly clear, Dex and Angela were kissing.

-

She wasn't feeling guilty…

Well alright she was feeling a little guilty when she remembered the look on her mother's face but Fallon Colby nee Carrington knew that sometimes in order to achieve an objective you had to put aside things like guilt if you wanted to succeed.

Buttoning up her blouse Fallon caught sight of her reflection in the glass and for a moment she scarcely recognised the serious looking woman in her thirties who gazed back. Where had that young free spirit gone?

Smoothing out the few fine wrinkles that gathered at the edge of her eyes and lined her mouth Fallon couldn't help but wonder if she had been lucky enough to inherit Alexis's genes, or was that wishful thinking? As a young girl who had grown up loathing the memory of her mother Fallon had seized and played on any reference to her beautiful paternal grandmother anything rather than link her looks to mysteriously beautiful mother who had abandoned her. Perhaps fate had a strange sense of humour after all, granting her wish at the least opportune moment.

Pulling open her dresser drawer Fallon searched for an expensive beauty cream, a present from her mother at Christmas that she had barely touched before now. Yet her fingers closed not on the smooth pot of cream but a familiar velvet box.

Fallon knew it was almost sadistic but she couldn't stop her fingers from lifting out the box and flipping it open. The beautiful emerald and diamond ring glittered in the early morning light and before she had even realised she was doing it Fallon had plucked it from the safety of the velvet cushion, sliding it onto her right hand, lifting her hand up to admire it…It looked just right…

Then suddenly reality returned, and Fallon ripped the piece of jewellery off, stuffing it back into the ring box and slamming the drawer shut.

"Dear god what is wrong with you?" Fallon muttered shaking her head as she reached for her hairbrush, straightening her fringe as she tried to straighten out her thoughts. She was not Amanda, she was not some simpering girl with no experience of men, and yet since her argument with a bare-chested Dex in the breakfast room Fallon hadn't been able to stifle the frisson of something that charged through her at the thought of him.

And now to top this madness off she was talking to herself.

She liked Jackson, she was attracted to Jackson; Fallon repeated these thoughts in her mind. It was all so confusing first Jeff, then Jackson and now this mindless attraction to Dexter, was she doomed only to chase men that she couldn't have? Why was it only men who spurned her, rebuked her and chastised her, treated her badly, who were able to light a spark in her and hold her interest?

Was there something wrong with her, or was it simply the petty childish desire to have the things that were denied to her, the things that people said she couldn't?

Setting down her brush Fallon slipped on her jacket and picked up her purse, glancing at the clock she realised there was still time for a quick breakfast before leaving for The Carlton. A few moments later Fallon was just about to push open the door to the breakfast room when a familiar voice caused her to pause. Yet it wasn't the fact that Jackson was already inside, or that he was on the phone that made her stop dead; it was who he was on the phone to and what he was saying that left her reeling.

"Come on Krystle admit it you had fun yesterday…. Ok well I suppose my idea of fun might vary from other peoples…Look admit it woman why don't you do us both a favour and just admit you enjoyed it…. Well then you wouldn't be opposed to doing it again then…Come on don't say no…Well no one caught us out last time did they? Trust me Krystle I am not going to tell Alexis anything about this, I promise this will stay between the two of us…Pleaseeeeeeeeeeee…That's my girl, pick you up in an hour…No I won't tell you where we are going, a man needs to keep some secrets…Fine I won't come to the house…The stables, one hour don't be late!"

Slamming open the door Fallon caught Jackson as he was setting down the phone, his startled yet innocent looking gaze set her blood boiling and she couldn't help the feeling of rage that overwhelmed her. Stepping into the room Fallon slammed her purse down onto the table her anger only increasing as Jackson continued to act oblivious; the question boiling up and slipping off of her tonge before she could stop it.

"So just how long has this thing between you and Krystle been going on? Just how long have you been sleeping with both me and my step-mother?"

-

Part 6:

He had done his figures, twice in fact, the second time in the hope that he could somehow find the millions to plug the gap, perhaps in a negative not carried across properly, or a source of funding he had somehow forgotten to include. Yet when he came to the same answer the second time Dex Dexter did little to stifle his curse of frustration.

Perhaps he had been optimistic in the first place? After all Dex had come down here expecting to bid on a 50% share in the mining company not to purchase it in its entirety. Yet now he was here Dex could practically taste the potential. He had spent most of the night going over all the reports he could get his hands on and already he had spotted areas where he could modernise and slim down some of the running costs thereby boosting profits and helping him recoup his investment even faster.

However all those grand plans would be for nothing if he failed to come up with the cash he needed and there simply wasn't time to fly back to the states to secure additional financing, not that he had anything else to put down as security, his shares in Lexdex were maxed out and his own personal fortune was already comitted.

No what he needed right now was a partner, someone who would have the necessary funds and who trusted his judgement.

Someone who would be content to let him run things without too much interference…

Although sometimes a little interference was nice Dex snorted unable to keep the smirk from his lips. Some of his most pleasant memories arose from a certain person striding and stomping her size five stilettos demanding to know what the hell he was doing with their company. Of course it certainly helped that Dex had patented distraction techniques at his disposal so on the occasion she did try to tell him how to run his company Dex was quite adept at distracting her long enough for the whim to past.

There really was only one person who fit all those criteria and yet Dex was surprised to realise he was actually nervous about asking. Taking a deep breath Dex picked up the receiver, dialling the familiar number, hearing it ring he held his breath until a familiar voice answered.

"Darling it's Dex I have something important to talk to you about…"

"So just how long has this thing between you and Krystle been going on? Just how long have you been sleeping with both me and my step-mother?"

For a moment Jackson actually stared at Fallon, her sudden appearance in the dining room had startled him. Once more she had been able to sneak up on him unawares; really had he gone that soft, that slack in his training, that a five foot five brunette in heels could catch him out? Yet coupled with a feeling of annoyance he had to stifle a chortle of amusement. If Fallon was trying to intimidate him then she was going to have to try harder than that, the hands on the hips routine only went so far?

"Well dammit Jackson answer me!" Fallon demanded her anger only growing as Jackson continued to stare at her dumbfounded.

Shaking off his stupor Jackson felt his initial amusement begin to fade. "Answer what, your paranoid delusions? Besides I am my own man, I don't answer to you Fallon."

"If you are sleeping with Krystle you will! Dammit Jackson can't you keep it in your pants?…I mean I know Krystle hasn't been herself but surely the coma couldn't have disintegrated enough of her brain cells that she actually thinks you are anything other than a player?"

"I don't even have to justify that accusation with an answer but since you are dragging a good woman's name through the mud. No I am not sleeping with her, but hell even if I was it wouldn't any of your business." Jackson answered hotly shaking his head as he pushed passed Fallon heading out to catch up with the hands before he had to make his appointment with Krystle.

Trying to shake off Fallon's words, which stung more than Jackson wanted to admit, even to himself. After all it wasn't anything he hadn't heard before. In fact once upon a time Jackson had taken pride in his reputation as a womaniser. Yet they did hurt now because living at the ranch Jackson had, probably foolishly, felt accepted for who he was. Neither Alexis nor Fallon had been saints in their lives, both had enjoyed their share of conquests and Jackson had fitted in, Alexis only rolled her eyes when his dalliances with the staff was on her time.

"You're not?" Fallon's soft almost relieved voice made him pause in the doorway.

"We're just friends; she is helping me choose some breeding stock, that's all. Happy now?"

Swallowing down the disquiet that stirred at the thought of Jackson having any sort of relationship with Krystle even friendship, Fallon took a step towards him, her hand reaching out and grasping his bicep. "I'm sorry I guess…I guess I was a little jealous."

"Fallon we've been over this." Jackson sighed raising one arm to lean against the doorjamb brushing her touch away. "You're a great girl but I don't do relationships; look I am not saying this to hurt you but I can't pretend that I am going to change my mind."

"But Jackson…"

"No buts Fallon." Jackson cut in his blue eyes boring into Fallon's ignoring her pleading gaze as he pulled away. "I just don't have it in me…I don't know how to love someone."

Listening to Dex's sale pitch Alexis was finding it increasingly difficult to keep a hold on her temper. When she had first picked up the phone Alexis had felt a sense of relief, the fact that Dex was calling her after only being gone a day probably to reassure her how much he loved her, had sent the fear of his infidelity back to the corner of her mind Yet the longer she listened the more those feelings returned, bubbling in her mind as Dex prattled on about return on investment and turnover and potential for expansion and not once about how much he should have been missing her.

Finally Alexis felt her control snap her voice cold as ice as she demanded. "As fascinating as this all is Dex what the hell does it have to do with me?"

As if sensing the somewhat cooler reception than he had anticipated Dex paused, his husky voice especially deep as he replied. "Well I was thinking there is more than enough opportunity here for both our companies and once upon a time you mentioned an interest in mining and putting my experience to good use soooo…"

"That was years ago Dex." Alexis cut him off sharply her eyes flickering to her dressing table where she knew without having to open the drawer those damn photographs of Dex and Angela were burning a hole. Part of her wanted nothing more than to demand the truth here and now and yet the greater part of her held back. No Alexis needed Dex here, she needed to be able to look him in the eyes when she confronted him, only then would she know if he was lying.

"I know but opportunities like this don't come around every day Alexis and I wouldn't want you to miss out." Dex's voice jarred Alexis back to the present and the conversation that was masking so many underlying issues it was positively bristling.

"Believe me Dex I think with Colby Co and Denver Carrington I have quite enough opportunity to manage…"

Dex's sigh or was that a huff of exasperation cut Alexis off. "Alexis I need a partner for this deal…"

"Well go ahead and find one." Alexis retorted rolling her eyes. "Honestly Dex this is your business deal not mine, and I am not interested in diversifying right now."

For a moment a heavy silence hung between them until Dex's voice could be heard petulantly demanding. "Do you want me to beg, is that it? Is that what Blake did to get you to bail him out when he needed it? Should I go and get pointers, I mean the old man is only next door…"

"I am not going to even justify that with an answer, you are being ridiculous."

"No what's ridiculous or more to the point unbelievable is that you bent over backwards to help Carrington but when I ask, I get the brush off." Dex argued hotly, his Wyoming accent coming out even more strongly as he lost control. "Way to show just how much you love me Alexis."

Rolling her eyes Alexis couldn't bite back her bitchy retort. "Sorry Darling but buying a billion dollar company for a fraction of it's real value to secure my children's legacy is a little different to acting as your personal piggy bank on a venture I haven't so much as checked out."

"Yeah well this was supposed to be Jack's legacy." Dex spat back, his mouth running away with him, words tripping off his tongue without thought. "What a way to prove that you don't love him the way you love your real children!"

Dex's words were like a shard of ice to her heart and for a moment Alexis could have sworn she actually felt it clench. She was so hurt and angry that there simply weren't the words. It was like having every taunt that Monica had levelled at her that morning about Sable and Jack magnified a hundred fold and then shot back at her out of a cannon. It hurt worse than anything because she had never ever expected to hear something like that coming from Dex.

Dex had asked her to raise Jack with him, even before they were together he wanted her to be Jack's mother, and knowing how she had taken his son into her heart and loved him like he was her own, he still used that to hurt her just because he was mad about a business deal…

"Alexis…God…Baby I didn't mean it…Alexis I'm sorry I just…." Dex's babbling barely reached Alexis and she stared at the receiver like it was alien in her hand before setting it down on the handset and silencing the excuses and apologies that she just wasn't ready to listen to.

A second later the phone began to ring shrilly but Alexis ignored it, pulling on her robe she made her way almost zombie like across the hallway and into the nursery, barely registering the nanny's greeting Alexis greedily took Jack out of her arms and shooed the younger woman out of the room. Sinking into the antique rocker Alexis held the oblivious Jack in her arms, relishing his warmth and his happy grin, the way he placed his chubby star shaped hands on her cheeks as if fascinated by the trails of tears that had silently slid down her face.

"." Jack cooed proudly bouncing eagerly in Alexis's arms before burrowing her face into her shoulder and slobbering over her fine silk robe.

"I'm not loosing you…I'm not letting you go ever." Alexis whispered more to herself than the babbling baby, rubbing her hands up and down his back as she slowly came out of her stupor and wiped the remains of the tears from her cheeks.

She was not going to be a victim in this. If Dex wanted to cheat on her and use her then he had another thing coming. If thought he could do all that and still take Jack from her, god he made her so mad she just wanted to scream and…

No Alexis needed to be smart about this. Hadn't she seen how this sort of thing played out before, even in her own family? Poor demented Claudia had been the only mother little Danny had ever known but that hadn't stopped Steven from removing her from his son's life after their divorce.

Right now Alexis didn't know how she felt about Dex, she didn't know whether to believe Monica or not, for all she knew her cousin's brat of a daughter could have found a way to set up or fabricate the whole thing and yet…Try as she might Alexis knew Monica had achieved something, opposite to which she intended no doubt, yet she had provided Alexis with a startling wake up call.

Alexis wasn't Jack's biological mother and she was never going to be no matter how hard she might wish it.

On a whim Dex could wake up tomorrow and take Jack away from her and right now Alexis would be powerless to stop him. There was only one way Alexis could change that, to ensure that she had rights as Jack's mother and there was only one way that could ever happen. Alexis had to adopt him to make him legally as much hers as Dex's…

There was only one stumbling block in this brilliant plan that Alexis could see and that was convincing Dex Dexter himself, or more to the point holding off on confronting him about this 'Angela' business and playing happy families until the ink was dry on the court paperwork. So she would bide her time and wait, watch Dex closely for any further evidence of betrayal and if…if she found any evidence she would keep it tightly under wraps until after she had what she wanted and then…then she would let him have it both barrels.

Pressing a kiss to Jack's forehead Alexis rocked him softly, smiling as chuckled and babbled on oblivious. This wasn't going to be easy, it would take all her restraint and cunning to pull it off but then Alexis Colby had never backed down from anything because it was difficult and she wasn't about to start now.


	6. Episode 6: The Letter

Series 12: Blood Lines

Episode 6: The Letter

Part 1:

The cheap whiskey burnt his throat on the way down, yet that didn't stop Dex from signalling the barman to refill his empty glass one more time. It was a good sort of pain, it helped distract from his emotional turmoil and right now Dex would take any distraction no matter how fleeting it might be.

However even rough still whiskey couldn't completely erase the lingering anger; anger at Alexis for leaving him to the whims of fate but mostly anger at himself for being such an idiot.

Dex knew Alexis, he knew her moods and her smiles, he liked to think he could read her better than any man alive, even better than Blake Carrington. He could sense hurricane Alexis at five hundred paces so how the hell had he gotten things so badly wrong? He should have known just from the distant politeness in Alexis's voice the moment she answered the phone that something was wrong before he even opened his mouth. Yet Dex had been so focused on his own objective that he hadn't paused long enough to pick up on the signs.

If only he had stopped to think, to ask her what was wrong and coax the answer out of her instead of blindly jumping in with both feet.

Yet even that idiocy had nothing on his next blunder…Bringing up Blake…Sure his pride had been hurt when Alexis turned his proposal down flat and Dex had a right to feel slighted but his reaction had been disproportionate; he had simply reacted without engaging his brain, just letting his tongue run away with him, the desire to lash out and get his own back overcoming his better judgement. Well he had done more than dent Alexis's pride, he had hurt her, and then if that hadn't been bad enough…

It was true that jealous clouds the mind, casting everything in a different light and in that moment Dex had to confess he could barely see he was so jealous…Of Blake…Of Alexis's children who had always taken her attention away from him but Dex had never thought…never contemplated or let himself consider that he could be jealous even of his own child.

It was ridiculous…ludicrous even.

Dex had been the one to push Alexis into taking on the role of mother to Jack and now when she had truly embraced that role and taken his son into her heart…Was it true? Did Dex honestly find himself resenting having to share Alexis with yet another person, even if that person was his son?

And yet despite knowing it was crazy Dex couldn't deny that was how he was feeling.

He loved Jack and he loved Alexis, yet people didn't deliberately lash out at those they loved like that. Dex didn't even have an excuse not really, because it hadn't been a thoughtless taunt, he had known what he was saying, he had picked it because he knew of all the things he could say he had known that would hurt the most. The moment he had said it though Dex regretted it, but there was nothing he could say to take it back…

Alexis had put the phone down on him and now she was refusing to take any of his calls and Mark had been downright frosty with him when he tried to bribe Alexis's secretary into putting his call through anonymously. That on top of the knowledge he had wasted his time even coming down here to bid on a company he couldn't afford, combined to make an already shitty day worse. In fact Dex couldn't imagine how things could get much worse than this…

"You know Dexter your choice in drinking establishments leaves a hell of a lot to be desired."

Snorting into his glass Dex barely lifted his head to acknowledge his unwelcome gatecrasher, it seems fate had quite the sense of humour after all.

The words continued to blur on the page but Alexis refused to admit defeat. She had a meeting with Adam about the progress on the South Korean fields and her son would only throw a hissy fit if she still hadn't read his damn report, and Adam was already so sullen lately that Alexis didn't want to make a bad situation worse. Yet that didn't mean Alexis had to be happy about it.

So was it was hardly a surprise that Alexis couldn't contain her scowl when there was a timid knock on the door and it opened. Yet even Alexis found a slight smile tugging at her lips when her interrupter paused long enough to shake a white handkerchief waiting until Alexis chuckled before pushing the door open.

"No firing squad?" Mark asked teasingly pushing the door open wider carrying the large silver tea tray effortlessly as he knocked the door closed with his hips, a manila envelope wedged under his arm.

"It's still early." Alexis deadpanned watching as her disrespectful imp of a secretary as he sashayed across the floor, a smirk on his lips and a certain bounce in his step.

"Well someone is in a good mood." Alexis noted her own mood lifting slightly as Mark smirked in reply. "Pleasant evening was it?"

"Oh yes."

Alexis snorted at Mark's wink, "Anyone I know?"

Pouring his boss her tea Mark stirred in the sugar before bringing it over to Alexis's desk. "Let's just say I owe you a bigger thank you for letting me have those ballet tickets…And especially for getting us into the after party…"

Laughing Alexis reached for her tea. "I take it you got to find out just what is really under a dancer's tights?"

"And for once I wasn't disappointed…" Mark retorted waggling his eyebrows. "Oh before I forget this just came with a courier."

Accepting the envelope Alexis reached for her paper knife slicing it open under Mark's watchful eye. "Was there anything else Mark?"

Tutting at being caught out snooping Mark shrugged. "Nothing that can't wait…You're not planning on working late tonight are you, only Pascal was hoping…"

"Oh Pascal's the one hoping is he?" Alexis teased, her eyes flickering back to her blushing secretary before dropping to the letter in her hands, a letter with familiar script handwriting.

"You don't mind do you? Only he only gets one proper night off a week and we were hoping to make an evening of it…"

Waving Mark aside Alexis nodded, ignoring his exclamations of gratitude as he focused on the missive in front of her.

_My dear Alexis, _

_I suppose I should be flattered, that one brief conversation could have such an infamous lady so intrigued that she puts a Private Detective on my trail, even one with such terrible taste in suits._

_I am afraid Mr Hess won't be of much use to you, I have always been a man to jealously guard my privacy. However since I do hate to disappoint you, I propose an alternative. I am prepared to offer you a chance to ask your questions face to face, an opportunity to satisfy your curiosity first hand so to speak, providing you prove your worth. _

_I have enclosed an entrance form for the upcoming two-mile flat race in Los Angeles. I have always enjoyed the sport and have a small interest in one of the horses running. I propose we test our mettle in the arena of kings, if you win I promise to take you for dinner and answer any question you ask but if I win…. _

_Then Alexis you will owe me something equally valuable, and I place an inestimable value on my privacy. _

_All you have to do to accept my little wager is enter a horse in the race. _

_Yours in anticipation _

_EH_

Setting the letter down Alexis found the entrance form still in the envelope and she couldn't contain the sly smile that spread across her full lips.

"Alexis what is it?" Mark asked intrigued by this new smile on his bosses face, and he had thought he had seen them all but this was his first time seeing this one and it put him in mind of a cat toying with its prey, mentally noting this one as Alexis's scheming smile.

Leaning back in her chair Alexis reached for her teacup, taking a sip her eyes glinting over the rim, she sat her cup back down before replying, watching as Mark practically stewed in excitement. "Put out the word Mark, Colby Stud is about to make its grand entrance on to the racing scene…This prize is just too tempting to turn down."

As Blake hesitantly took the seat next to Dexter at the makeshift bar he couldn't help but wonder about the younger man's judgement choosing to drink in a dive like this rather than coming back to the villa with the rest of the potential investors. Calling this place a shit hole was actually a compliment. It was nothing more than a tin shed that had sprung up halfway between the mining operation and the nearest village in order to catch the workers before they got home and alleviate much of their hard earned wealth before it reached their poor families.

Still at least it was early afternoon and the place was pretty much empty, the only patron other than himself and Dex was a half soaked old man who was sat babbling away in the corner to a chained up parrot who was doing a good job of ignoring him. The only other live body was the owner whose dark beady eyes were flickering between Blake and Dex with greedy interest.

"O que você tem?"

"What?..."

"He wants to know what you want to drink Carrington." Dex supplied yet he still hadn't so much as glanced in Blake's direction.

"Water will be fine thank you." Blake answered surprised when Dexter chuckled at his answer.

"Adventurous Carrington."

Irritated by Dex's flippant retort Blake tried not to let the younger man's insolent attitude get to him, things were already difficult enough. "Forgive me if I prefer to keep a clear head…Besides that stuff could send you blind Dexter have you thought about that, it's nothing better than moonshine."

"And the water around here might just kill you or at the very least send you down with a lovely case of dysentery." Dex retorted smugly back. "Believe me or not, it's your funeral Carrington."

"Fine." Blake had to concede Dexter may actually have a point; he certainly had more experience of this environment than Blake and of drinking in shit holes as well come to think of it. "Do you think a beer would threaten my health in anyway?"

Shrugging his shoulders Dex gestured towards the owner to refill his glass. "E uma cerveja." Dex added and the owner grunted shuffling across the dirt floor to the locked coffin refrigerator that filled the room with it's noisy rumbling, unlocking it with the key from around his neck the owner retrieved a bottle of something that might just pass for beer on close inspection.

Setting it down in front of Blake he gestured with his grubby fingers, rubbing them together in the universal sign for money and Blake immediately began to move for his wallet.

"I wouldn't get that out in here Blake." Dex warned the older man his voice low and insistent. "Not unless you want to be jumped by a group of men walking home. I bet you don't have anything small enough and places like this don't exactly keep that much money handy…I've got it." Dex grunted flicking a small worn note down onto the bar his dark eyes locked on the grousing barman who muttered to himself about being done out of a chance to fleece a new customer.

"Thank you Dexter."

Snorting as he swilled his moonshine around in his glass Dex took a sip enjoying the burn, "I am just saving myself the trouble of having to wade in to rescue your sorry arse that is all."

"Well I still thank you no matter your motives."

For a moment the two men sat in what was for them an almost comfortable silence. Dex with his whiskey and Blake taking a sip of his beer, relaxing when the concoction didn't make his eyes water but was actually rather pleasant.

"Why are you here Blake?" Dex finally muttered lifting his eyes from the dull wooden planks that doubled for a bar, his dark gaze taking in the older man beside him.

"You missed lunch…"

Snorting Dex shook his head. "Don't tell me you were worried? How touching…" He added sarcastically. "Sorry to disappoint Carrington but I am still alive and very much kicking, so if this part of some plan to lull me into a false sense of security…"

"Do people always have to have an ulterior motive with you Dexter?" Blake snapped back. "Is it really so hard for you to accept that I might actually be checking up with you out of actual concern and not because of some twisted scheme, that only exists in your head I might add, to steal Alexis away from you. I've known you all of your life young man, your father was one of my closest friends and after last night…

"Last night proves shit Blake." Dex spat, shooting Blake down before he could begin harping on about Sam Dexter again. "Look I don't want to talk about this with you, Sam Dexter is dead and any obligation you may have had to defend him died with him. As for me I don't need you insight or guidance, and I am certainly not just going to sit around and let you bend my ear about how great my father was, or what great friends you once were…I don't want to hear it, so if that is the only reason you are here then you can leave, don't let the door hit your butt on the way out!"

"Fine!" Blake snapped, shaking his head at the younger man's stubbornness. Dexter was determined to do this the hard way and there was nothing Blake could say to change his mind…It was a feeling Blake knew only too well.

Finishing his beer Blake glanced at his watch, he really should be making his way back…They both should if they wanted to make the auction in time. "Since you don't seem to be enjoying my company I'll leave you to your wallowing, I at least am interested to find out who will end up with the company…"

"Good." Dex grunted rubbing his thumb along the edge of his glass before something about the way Blake had said that sank in. "Don't you mean you want to find out if you have secured the deal?"

Shaking his head Blake had to wonder just how much of that moonshine Dex had already drunk. "Dexter I never took you for a stupid man don't make me doubt my judgement. I came prepared to buy a 50% share, you and I have both done the math, do you really think I have an extra 30 million just lying about the place…I thought some of the other partners might be interested in forming a partnership, I had a few meetings this morning but they all seem determined to go it alone and hope they get a bargain."

"A partnership you…I thought the great Blake Carrington makes his money as an independent, that was what you told me remember?" Dex taunted the memory of the Carousel Ball still fresh in his mind, Blake's lecture still burnt into his memory.

Gritting his teeth Blake grudgingly retorted "Needs must and this deal is too good to let a little thing like pride get in my way."

"Yes it is…" Dex mumbled his thoughts tumbling over themselves, his mind reviewing the money he had and that which he guessed Blake could bring to the table…Together they might just do it… "No it would never work." He muttered mainly to himself.

"What wouldn't?" Blake asked intrigued by the sudden spark of energy.

"We'd kill each other." Dex added mainly to himself but it was if a light had been switched on in Blake's mind.

"We've worked together before." Blake supplied unable to stop the hope from flaring up. Perhaps everything wasn't as over as he believed. "On the pipeline remember."

"That was different, I was your contractor." Dex muttered shaking his head.

"You were on my board."

"Yeah and how many times did you threaten to kick me off?" Dex snapped back his dark eyes locking with Blake's.

"Only when…"

"Only when it was something to do with Alexis." Dex finished for him. "And that is the reason this won't work Carrington, forget business, I can work with anyone, this is personal."

"You don't think you can keep them separate?" Blake asked his dark eyes honest, watching the conflict within Dexter.

"No I don't think you can!" Dex answered bluntly. "I need to be able to trust my partner Blake, not like, but trust. Yet how can I be certain that whilst I am down here and you are back there that you aren't taken advantage of my absence to destroy my family?"

Sighing Blake had to admit Dex had a point and in the past that sounded like something Blake Carrington would have done. Yet there was one thing that would stop him, the one thing that had kept him from pulling Alexis into his arms every time he saw her. Looking deeply into Dexter's eyes Blake took a deep breath, willing the younger man to see just how much he was putting into this, to read the sincerity in his eyes and voice.

"I can give you my word of honour Dexter not to and when I give my word, no matter what the cost, I won't break it."

**Part 2:**

"Alexis what part of NO do you not understand? We aren't ready, sure we have some promising fillies and a colt that I was planning on putting in some races later on in the season but we sure as hell don't have any horses ready to race at such short notice. Do you even have any idea of the amount of work it takes to get a racehorse ready for this sort of event?"

Yet Jackson didn't really need to ask such a question, he knew damn well that Alexis had absolutely no idea that was his role in this partnership, a role that until this afternoon Alexis had seemingly been completely happy to leave to his discretion. However that hands off approach seemed to have come to an abrupt conclusion the moment Alexis had marched into the room Jackson had turned into the stud farm office and slapped a race entry form onto the desk, ordering him to select a horse to enter. In addition the fact that Alexis was deaf to his objections, preferring to flick through a damn catalogue rather than discuss this like adults, sent Jackson's temper sky rocketing.

"How silly of me Jackson I could have sworn that was what I hired you for!" Alexis drawled.

"You didn't hire me Alexis, I am your partner. Your equal partner, remember that term?" Jackson drawled sarcastically his irritation growing as Alexis barely glanced up from the magazine she was flicking through.

"What I know Jackson is that I am the one who has put up the money for this venture, the stud is on my land and so far I have seen nothing but expense from this little deal of ours. As a partner I have more than pulled my weight…" Alexis paused her emerald eyes finally lifting from some dull looking article about feed or some such nonsense to lock on Jackson's scowling face.

"Whereas all you, from my perspective, have done is swan about, enjoying the benefits of my home whilst seducing my staff, my daughter, oh and lest we forget involving certain ex-stenographers in one of my business ventures. I would have thought as an equal partner I would have at least be consulted before you took such a decision?"

It was if a light bulb had suddenly been switched on in Jackson's brain. "Krystle, is this what this is really about? So I've taken her under my wing, she's good Alexis, she has an eye for picking livestock and I think given the right opportunities she could be a real asset to us..."

"An asset, that woman couldn't be an asset if you had her silver-plated her and sold her off at auction!" Alexis scoffed rolling her eyes at Jackson's protective stance.

"That woman is a liability and I won't have her involved in my life anymore than she has already is. It was bad enough she social climbed her way into my family in the first place, that I had no control over and I have learned to grudgingly live with the irritation; but I don't and won't give her any encouragement to continue sticking around where she so clearly isn't wanted!"

"Around Blake you mean!" Jackson retorted, knowing he had struck pay dirt when Alexis flinched. "Well why shouldn't she, I mean they were married and they have a daughter together; he did love her very deeply once upon a time. You chose Dexter…You can't expect Blake to wait around for you forever Alexis."

"I am not asking anyone to do anything!" Alexis hissed slamming the magazine shut, unable to feign aloofness a moment longer as she stalked up to a smirking Jackson her hands finding her hips as she tried to stare him down.

"No but you are reserving the right to be mightily pissed off if Blake does eventually give up on waiting for you and returns to the lovely Krystle aren't you Alexis?"

For a moment Alexis felt the indescribable urge to slap that sanctimonious look off of Jackson Hobbs face, yet that would merely confirm the point that Jackson was making, that the idea of Blake and Krystle reuniting disturbed her deeply. "Frankly none of this any of your affair Jackson…"

"Not mine perhaps." Jackson muttered suggestively shaking his head. "I didn't realise you were so petty Alexis."

Smiling icily Alexis's emerald eyes glinted warningly. "I would tread very carefully if I were you Mr Hobbs when resorting to name calling. I have given you a free rein here, made you welcome in my home, overlooked certain liberties you have taken. I make one reasonable request, simply to enter one of my racehorses in an upcoming event and you shoot me down, that is hardly reasonable behaviour…It tempts me to be equally unreasonable…"

"Are you threatening me?" Jackson demanded his blue eyes narrowing on Alexis, her petite frame was hardly what you would picture when thinking of the word intimidating but Alexis was giving it her best shot. "Because I do not kindly to threats Alexis and I…"

"Must you be so dramatic?" Alexis scoffed rolling her eyes, sighing deeply; this was not how she had wanted this conversation to go at all. She hadn't anticipated Jackson being so hostile to the whole idea; they were training racehorses after all, what was the point if they didn't actually race?

"Jackson I have no desire to change the management arrangements for the stud. I am simply asking for you to meet me halfway, I am happy to give you free rein here Jackson, providing when I make the occasional request you try your best to accommodate them."

"And if I don't?"

"I really don't think you need me to articulate those consequences now do you?" Alexis replied softly. "I cannot be partners with someone who doesn't listen to me, cannot possibly justify spending my money to provide you with toys to play with. I need to place a horse in that race Jackson and I need it to do well, you can use whatever resources you need to make that happen, hell buy a new racehorse if that is what it takes…"

"Any resource?" Jackson cut in his blue eyes glittering contemplative. "I have your word on that?"

"Providing it doesn't bankrupt me." Alexis retorted tartly.

"Even if it is hiring someone you loath?"

Gritting her teeth Alexis bit back her immediate refusal. She needed Jackson's cooperation and if the price was enduring Blake's former wife… Besides Alexis could console herself with the fact that at some point she could always invent a reason to fire Krystle, something she would devolve no small amount of pleasure from doing personally… And if in the short term it kept Jackson happy and she got her race entry. Plus if Krystle was hanging around Jackson, it kept her out of the mansion and away from Blake, and Jackson wasn't without his own charms…

Perhaps this wasn't such a terrible compromise after all…

"Agreed."

Smiling smugly Jackson held his hand out watching as Alexis practically swallowed down her pride to accept it, shaking on their agreement. "Then Alexis you have gotten yourself a deal."

-

They had done it. The mining corporation was theirs, lock stock and barrel.

It had been a close run thing but the combined Carrington Dexter bid had just pipped out there nearest rival by half a million. At sixty million for the developed and undeveloped property, it had been a sizable price tag but it still meant they had money left for investment and Blake was keen to get started. That was one of the few characteristics that he actually had in common with his new partner.

It had been surprisingly easy sitting down to talk business with Dexter, after the contracts had been signed. All celebratory drinks had been postponed, there were far more important matters to attend to and Blake had been surprised to realise that Dex had picked up on most of the same issues of wastage and areas for modernisation that Blake had himself. Yet when they got into the gritty details then the younger man's greater experience had shown itself and Blake had to admit to being impressed. Dexter not only knew his oil but he knew his mining as well.

Finally after several hours of talks and decision making the two men had called it a night. Other than business there was clearly nothing Dexter wanted to talk to him about and Blake had felt momentarily adrift. There had always been someone there to celebrate with in the past. First his mother and then Alexis…

When they had been younger, Alexis had been the first person he had rang after closing any significant deal. She had been the person he had come home to and celebrated with, sometimes a dinner with friends or business associates. However Blake's personal favourites looking back now were those earliest celebrations that only had two participants, back when buying a bottle of vintage champagne had been a luxury; one that Blake had indulged in simply because he knew how much his young bride adored it.

The night after Carrington rig number two came in Blake had truly splurged, buying a magnum and they had taken it and a picnic up into the mountains. It hadn't been long since Adam's birth only two or three months and even a glass or two was enough to make Alexis tipsy. They had both gotten roaringly drunk that night, had made love under the stars and then spent the night cuddled on the back seat of his old Lincoln.

Nothing could turn back the clock. Yet it just seemed wrong not to mark such an important occasion and right now there was only one person that Blake wanted to reach out to. Someone who would understand just how much this would mean to him. The one person who had seen him at his lowest and yet had still managed to encourage him to climb his way back up the ladder.

And yet as his hand hovered over the receiver Blake hesitated.

Would this be considered breaking his promise to Dexter?

Pacing away from the phone Blake tore the cravat from his throat, slinging it over a chair, shrugging off his jacket and shirt before kicking off his trousers. Retrieving his pyjama's he headed to the bathroom to shower and change and yet even standing under the warm spray every few moments his thoughts returned to the phone and placing that call.

Surely it wouldn't be breaking his promise. It wasn't like he had an ulterior motive, but this news was important, important for him, important for their family and he wanted to share it with someone who would be excited for him.

Getting into bed Blake glanced at the clock, it was late but not too late, and it was an hour or so earlier in Denver…

Before he could stop himself he had picked up the receiver and was dialling a still unfamiliar number. For a moment Blake held his breath, debating the sense of what he was doing, yet there wasn't any sense to it, it was almost as if fate was controlling his actions and fate had yet to be proved wrong today…

So as a familiar voice answered the phone Blake could only take this as a sign. Pushing down the feelings that had leapt up into his throat in anticipation, Blake forced his voice to sound calm and collected when in fact he was far from it. It seemed fate had spoken after all…

"Hello Fallon I have some wonderful news…"

-

Part 3:

"And then she had the nerve to say that's what she hired me for, like I am one of her lackeys and not her partner. So now I have no choice but to spend a fortune buying an in condition horse, when that money could be better spent on those two year olds we found" Jackson huffed slamming down the race entry form on his desk and staring into the beautiful blue eyes of his captive audience. "I have never ever been tempted to strike any woman before but if I had ever felt the urge…" He trailed off shaking his head.

"Alexis has a tendency to get under your skin and make you react in ways you never dreamt possible." Krystle replied knowingly watching concerned as Jackson continued to pace back and forth in agitation. "She is a person of extremes and provokes extreme reactions…You either love her or hate her and she seems to enjoy it either way…Jackson you have to try and not let her get to you like this."

"That's easy said than done." Jackson huffed, his annoyance easing slightly when Krystle seemed amused by his petulant display. "I just wish I knew what prompted this sudden interest. Alexis has been happy to be hands off so far and it's worked, we haven't clashed over the stud at all, in fact she has been happy to listen and be guided by me, this change of heart well it doesn't make any sense."

"When it comes to Alexis it is wisest not to look for logic to explain her motivations." Krystle explained sagely, how often had she been left reeling by Blake's first wife's sudden mood and opinion changes?

Alexis could change from a smile to a frown in the space of time that most people took to breathe, it was exhausting to try and keep up with and it must be a nightmare to live with. She could only wonder why Dex and Blake seemed unable to get her out of their systems; they were both intelligent rational men and yet when faced with Alexis they seemed too lose all their common sense. Perhaps if she could only figure it out, work out what it was about Alexis that drew people to her despite her offensive personality traits, then she could find some sort of closure, find a way to let Blake go…or perhaps a way to counteract whatever was drawing him to Alexis in the first place?

"Although one good thing did come out it, I did get her to compromise…"

"You got Alexis to compromise!" Krystle blurted out unable to stop herself or contain her amazement.

"You make it sound like I did something miraculous, like cure cancer." Jackson joked his amusement only growing as Krystle continued to stare at him in amazement. "It wasn't that hard, you just have to find a way to negotiate with Alexis she can't be reasoned with like a normal person. Instead you need to find something that she wants and only agree to give it to her if she gives you something in return."

Shaking off her stupor Krystle could only file that lesson away for posterity. "And what did you ask for?"

"Oh." Jackson sighed his dark blue eyes twinkling. "Something that she was very reluctant to permit but I stood my ground."

"Jackson…"

Laughing at Krystle's irritation Jackson couldn't hold out on his good news a moment longer. "Fine I got her permission to hire you, a permanent place on the team. You have a good eye for horseflesh Krystle, I want you to start at the beginning first in sourcing the new stock…I'll train you up in the rest, training, race conditioning, you name it within a year you'll be one of the best damn trainers I know."

Of all the things she had been expecting Jackson to say that certainly hadn't been it and for a moment Krystle was flummoxed. Yes she had enjoyed the days she had spent helping Jackson with the stud, it had gotten her out of the empty house for a few hours and provided a much needed distraction but she certainly wasn't sure that she wanted to pick up a new career. Becoming a trainer would be hard work and long hours, it would be much more involved that her brief stint breeding Arabians under Daniel's tutelage and it would mean travelling and occasionally being around Alexis…working for Alexis.

"Jackson I don't know…I never said I was looking for a job."

"You may not have asked." Jackson retorted his blue eyes boring into Krystle's surprised to find a spark of anger. "I just assu…"

"Yes and that is precisely the problem, you assumed! You made a decision about my life without even the courtesy to consult me…"

"Hey slow down there lady." Jackson cut in surprised and pleased to see that spark of self returning to Krystle's eyes, even if he was a little annoyed to see it directed at himself and not Blake. "I am only offering you the job, you don't have to take it."

"You're damn right I don't have to." Krystle snapped. "I have my own life Jackson, I have a daughter who needs me and…"

"And an ex-husband who doesn't…A house that is ran by a dozen staff…And how exactly were you planning on spending your days when Krystina goes back to school next week?" Jackson cut in watching as Krystle flushed angrily. "I am not saying this to hurt you Krystle but don't you want something for you, just you, nobody else?"

"That's selfish…"

"No it's self preservation." Jackson countered reaching out and catching Krystle's hand trying to reach out and shake some sense into her. "Look the offer is there, I think you would be a natural at it and would love the job, you're still a young woman Krystle do you really want the remainder of your youth wasted hanging around an empty mansion just waiting for other people to come home?"

Leaning back in his seat Blake gazed out of the window enjoying the sight of Denver's skyscrapers laid out before him as the small plane Dexter had chartered flew over the city making its way to the private landing strip just north of the city limits. Private planes were definitely the way to travel and Blake found himself appreciating them even more after his brief stint having to fly commercial.

Now that he didn't have access to the Denver Carrington jet perhaps it was time buy one himself? It would save having to charter one every time he needed to go down to the mining operation and since Dexter and he had agreed to split the time down there fifty-fifty after the operation was up and running properly Blake knew he was going to be spending a significant amount of time travelling. He might as well do it in comfort?

"Home sweet home." Blake mused as the small plane began to circle down to the ground, the wheels touching down lightly on the tarmac, ignoring Dexter's snort of amusement.

"Enjoy the calm and luxury whilst it lasts Carrington, you won't be getting much when we get down on the ground in Brazil."

"Don't you mean under it." Blake joked back pleased when this time his pun actually broke through Dexter's stony façade. "No it will be good to have something to do with my time, I need a new challenge."

"That at least I agree with." Dex mumbled watching as the older man's eyes flickered over, Blake unable to completely suppress his irritation at the younger man's vacillating mood.

"I gave you my word Dexter that should be enough."

"And I plan on holding you to it." Dex snapped back, matching Blake's crotchety tone. "We are partners in business Carrington and that is all I plan on sharing with you!"

Biting his lip Blake forced himself to swallow the retort that had been on the tip of his tongue, that he was not interested in sharing Alexis with Dexter either. "Fine but would a pretence of civility be too much to ask for?"

"A Pretence might just be possible." Dex muttered bitterly before nodding his agreement. He and Blake would never be best friends but he didn't need to like the man to work with him but they did need to be able to communicate without every conversation becoming an argument, and this time it hadn't been Blake's fault.

Blake was trying at least but it didn't help that every time the older man opened his mouth Dex felt the urge to punch him surge up. It wasn't simply the fact that Dex knew Carrington was still in love with Alexis, or had made no secret that his dearest wish was to have her back. It wasn't even surprisingly the fact that Blake had somehow managed to bed Alexis behind his back, that had hurt him but it wasn't what inspired such a blind rage.

No it was the memories of a tearful shaken broken Alexis pounding on his door in the middle of the night and clinging to him to like he was the last lifeboat after the man she loved had tried to rape her. The memory of the woman he loved desperately standing on the top of her own building dull and lifeless and wanting to end her own life she was so full of pain. The fact that Blake Carrington had and could still hurt Alexis more deeply than any other person alive simply because she let him and because she loved him too much to truly cut the man from her life. They were tied together with bonds and knots to complicated for Dex to unravel, despite having spent the best part of seven years trying, and Dex couldn't help resenting him for it.

Finally the door to the plane was opened and the stairs pulled down and Dex was the first out of the door briefcase in hand striding to his waiting car when a familiar looking white rolls appeared driving onto the tarmac and for a moment Dex felt his heart leap. Then the driver got out and opened the door, assisting his passenger to rise and Dex felt his heart sink into his shoes.

"Fallon!" Blake's voice cried out in joy and surprise as his daughter rushed across the tarmac to pull him into a hug.

"Hello Daddy, I thought I would come and surprise you, take you to lunch to celebrate!"

"Well that is very kind of you darling, I am feeling rather peckish."

Holding out for as long as he could Dex couldn't stop the question that bubbled forth from his lips. "Fallon why do you have Alexis's rolls, where is she?"

If Fallon was surprised by Dexter's blunt question Blake thought she did an admirable job of hiding it yet there was no mistaking the slight smirk that tugged at his daughter's lips when she answered. "Oh didn't Mummy tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Dex snapped his patience clearly at an end when Fallon teased him.

"She flew to LA this morning, she has a morning meeting with Jason and then he is taking her to see a race at Santa Anita park so she is prepared, she won't be back till late and since my car is in for repair she leant me Eric and the rolls." Fallon explained sweetly her beautiful blue eyes clouded with fake concern. "I did mention you were flying back today but frankly she didn't seem that concerned, are the two of you having another one of your fights?"

Gritting his teeth Dex resisted the urge to tell Fallon where she could stick her faux compassion. "Your mother and I are just fine, but prepared for what?"

"Oh don't you already know?" Fallon teased enjoying the way Dex seemed to be struggling to keep his temper.

"Obviously not or I wouldn't be asking would I?"

Shrugging off Dex's irritation Fallon turned to face her father, a genuine smile lighting up her face as she considered the possibilities and how this new turn of events would undermine Dexter further. "Colby Stud is entering its first race and Mummy has decided to throw a huge party in LA to celebrate, all the family is invited in fact it is a three line whip and that includes you too Daddy!"

"Fallon I…"

"No arguing, you won't win with Mummy and you won't win with me either. It is about time this family had something to celebrate and we all need it, it'll be fun!" Fallon insisted cutting off her father's objections and turning to savour the murderous look that was contorting Dex's handsome face.

Turning back to her father Fallon could see the war being fought across his expression, he was teetering on the edge and only needed a little push, a push she was more than happy to provide.

"You never know you might even get lucky and win the jackpot…" She teased watching as her father finally caved under the pressure, she hadn't been called Blake Carrington's little princess for nothing, other than her mother Fallon knew best what buttons to push to get Blake to agree to anything.

"Besides which Daddy when have you ever turned down a chance to gamble?"

Part 4:

"Alright Fallon would you care to tell me what all of that was really about?" The question Blake posed was phrased lightly even jovially, as he leant back into the comfortable leather seats of Alexis's rolls, yet his eyes were serious as they locked with his daughter, pinning Fallon in place.

"Daddy it was nothing…"

"Don't nothing me young lady." Blake chided lightly, eyes darkening as his eyebrows bunched together in a frown. "I have known you every day of your life, I've seen your first step, your first word…I know when you are up to something."

"I was simply passing on a message." Fallon replied innocently, or as innocently as she could manage under her father's knowing gaze.

"And twisting the knife at the same time." Blake replied shrewdly watching as Fallon flinched almost imperceptibly, confirming his suspicion, now he merely needed to find out why and that required another approach. "I thought you liked Dex? You seemed to get on well in the past, so what's changed?"

For a moment Fallon opened her mouth to deny it, to exclaim that her father was imagining things but one glimpse into her father's unamused dark eyes and her lies fell away. "Fine perhaps I was stirring a little…"

"A little, Fallon you practically drew blood, now I am not Dexter's biggest fan but even I thought you went too far."

"Oh it wasn't that bad…"

"Wasn't it?" Blake demanded all pretence now flying out the window. "Now I don't know what you are playing at young lady but I can hazard a guess and I imagine it has to do with your mother and me and your misguided belief that causing trouble between your mother and Dex will bring us back together?"

"Daddy…"

"No Fallon before you go any further may I remind you of a promise you made me not long ago, not to interfere between your mother and me. And that covers more than just trying to influence Alexis; it includes sabotaging her relationship with Dex."

Huffing Fallon resisted the urge to pout staring out the window at the passing traffic. "I thought you might be grateful."

"For making my working relationship with my new partner that much more difficult than it already was?" Blake retorted in disbelief. "No Fallon I am not grateful for that!"

"No for stopping Mummy from making the biggest mistake of her life!" Fallon countered hotly dragging her eyes back to her father. "Your promises are all very noble Daddy, and I am sure there is a lot of moral fibre in being the bigger man and walking away but don't you also realise the other message you're sending? That you don't love Mummy enough to fight for her."

"Don't be ridiculous Fallon…"

"Well will moral fibre make you happy or keep you warm at night?" Fallon demanded refusing to allow her father to continue to bury his head in the sand over this.

"Will it make Mummy smile? Will it bring our family back together?" This passivity, this acceptance of loosing Alexis was so unlike the Blake Carrington she had grown up with, the man who had stopped at nothing to gain the things he wanted.

"That is my business Fallon, and your mother knows how I feel. This has to be her choice, I promised to respect that." Blake insisted, unable to deny that his daughter had made a few valid points that had shaken his determination slightly.

"How can she choose properly if all she hears is Dex's arguments why they should be together, if you want Mummy back then you have to fight for her Daddy, all I have done is buy you some time to get your finger out and you had better think of something drastic…"

Worried slightly by the certainty in Fallon's voice Blake felt his stomach churn slightly. "Why what's happened?"

"Nothing yet." Fallon answered her voice suddenly soft, her genuine concern showing through for the first time, her blue eyes tinged with fear. "But if you don't do something soon it may be too late…Dex has marriage on his mind and with Mummy as vulnerable as she has been I am afraid she might just say yes."

"And as you can see from the plans and the model the new Alexis Colby Arts wing

will be joined to our existing arts department by a wide glass walkway, we are hoping it the walkway will double as an exhibition space for both the students and visiting pieces, as well doubling as a place for them to congregate out of the elements."

Nodding as the handsome young final year architect student talked through his award winning design Alexis had to admit she was impressed by his presentation. She had cast her vote along side the panel of artists and professional architects her own reputation had pulled together and it was gratifying, now a few weeks later, to see her own personal favourite had been the one chosen after all.

Yet none of this changed the fact that right now Alexis should have been sitting with a glass of champagne in hand watching millions of pounds worth of horseflesh race around a track. Instead she sat sipping a mediocre alcohol free alternative that made her gag at the first sip, internally cursing after Jason Colby who had waited until after their morning meeting to cancel their race plans.

So finding herself back in Denver with a suddenly free afternoon and no desire to head back to the office and the pile of paperwork or back to the ranch where by now Dex would be skulking around.

It had been a spur of the moment decision to grace this little presentation with her presence after having previously turned the invite, an afternoon of pompous intellectuals trying the squeeze yet more of her hard earned millions out of her like she was the proverbial cash cow had not appealed.

However it did give her the opportunity to deal with a certain somebody.

On arrival it had certainly amused her to see the different Arts professors flapping as she arrived in crisp red Dior, scowling at the somewhat pathetic little reception they had put on. Alexis could only imagine that if they had thought she might actually attend the bald headed pot bellied photography lecturer might have chosen a shirt and tie without a large gravy stain down the middle.

"Well Mrs Colby what do you think?" The Dean asked his voice hopeful as he glanced at their newest patron before looking around the room for support when Alexis let him stew for a few minutes longer and the poor man was visibly sweating.

"We are all delighted by the design; it will certainly put the Metro State College of Denver on the map as far as providing state of the arts facilities for the arts…Professor Monroe?" He flailed appealing to the only person who had spent any considerable time in Alexis Colby's presence.

A familiar looking red head who was the real reason that Alexis had changed her mind at the last minute.

"Mrs Colby…You do like it don't you?" Angela's hesitant voice drew Alexis's attention and for a moment Alexis struggled to keep her own feelings separate.

Part of her wanted nothing more than to lash out at Angela, at this woman who sat opposite her as if butter wouldn't melt her bright eager smile so earnest. It was a fabulous act and one Alexis had almost fallen for, almost believing the young woman actually enjoyed her company for more than just wanting Alexis to put her hand into her pocket and fork out a small fortune. However all the while Angela had been pumping Alexis for patronage she had also been making a play for Dex behind her back…

Oh Alexis knew Dex, he wasn't the sort of man who actively went looking for woman to cheat on her with…

He just wasn't strong enough to say no when one pursued him, or if one happened to conveniently fall in his lap whilst he was mad at her.

No Angela was the one who had orchestrated this little infidelity, Dex was stupid when it came to woman; he continued to believe the shiny façade and so missed the festering cess pool beneath a pretty face and innocent smile. Angela must have been the one to start this and normally Alexis would make her pay dearly for that and pulling out of this deal now would certainly strike a bitter blow.

Yet this wasn't a business deal of a rival she could ruin on a whim, and it would tarnish her good name. Besides Alexis had approached the university because she had wanted to make a name for herself as a patron of the arts; to build a reputation as something other than a socialite, slut or shark. However that didn't mean she couldn't have some fun…

"I don't like it." Alexis answered bluntly, letting her pronouncement hang for a moment enjoying the looks of profound shock and horror on the surrounding faces before she looked gazes with the architecture student who looked to be on the verge of tears.

Then letting a smile slowly slide across her face she added vehemently. "I love it."

It was as though someone had opened a window and the tension that had been building since a scowling Alexis had stalked in suddenly evaporated and everyone was all smiles again. Everyone but Alexis who used her smiles like she used her words, everyone calculated to maximum effect.

"You have a brilliant future young man; do you have a internship already set up Mr…?"

Flustered at the sudden about turn and being the full focus of Alexis Colby's attention the blonde architect hid slightly underneath his fringe. "John…John Hastings Ma'am and well I have a few interviews but nothing concrete as yet."

Nodding Alexis slid from her chair sauntering over on her Louboutins as she reached into her purse for one of her business cards, which she handed to the blushing young man.

"That is my personal office number, my company has a number of construction projects under way and some new projects in the design phase. Now office blocks and shopping centres may not be the cutting edge of design but it would give you a firm grounding and a foot on the ladder. If you're interested give my secretary a call and he will arrange an interview with my company architect."

Not waiting for the inevitable gushing thanks to start Alexis turned on her heel only pausing long enough to pick up her fur and shake the Dean's hand, relieved when she was able to retrieve it quickly as the man's sweaty palms made her wonder if nervousness might be contagious. Then as she was heading towards the door a terrible little idea occurred to her.

"Angela walk me out will you?" Yet it really didn't sound like a request and Alexis didn't pause to wait for the younger woman, forcing Angela to grab her folder and rush to catch up with her as Alexis did nothing to slow her pace.

Striding through the building in silence Alexis could feel the other woman's confusion growing. Why ask her to walk Alexis out if she was just going to ignore her. However when they were sufficiently away from the prying eyes and the driver hurried to open the door of the substitute town car Alexis paused, her emerald fixed icily on Angela who seemed to freeze under their gaze, captivated by the predator like smile that lit up Alexis's face.

"Are you happy at Metro State Angela? I mean it isn't exactly the most prestigious of colleges, I am sure if you put your mind to it you could find something bigger and better elsewhere. Another city…Another country perhaps? There are certainly better arts programmes out there."

Angela seemed thrown by the change of subject and it took her a moment to collect her thoughts enough to reply, shifting awkwardly on her lableless ballet flats as Alexis seemed to loom over her with the height advantage from her stilettos. "I suppose there are but I like it here, I like Denver and I think Metro State has a bright future…"

"Yes but it is your future in particular that concerns me now. I would hate to see you wasting your talents." Alexis cut in watching as the younger woman squirmed uncomfortably a bright flush spreading across her pale skin.

"And as for Denver, from what I have heard you have no real family here, you have colleagues and students but friends…?" Alexis taunted. "How hard would be to start somewhere else?"

"But I thought…" Angela began biting her bottom lip as Alexis's laughter cut her off, her flush deepening as she lowered her gaze from the mocking that was present in Alexis's emeralds.

Laughing Alexis shook her head before going in for the kill. "We were never going to be friends, acquaintances perhaps…Now I don't mind my name and status being used to promote a worthy cause but I draw the line at being duped and used…"

"Alexis if this is about the exhibition…"

"Oh please don't play dumb we both know what this about or more to the point who."

"Alexis I don't understand…"

"Oh I think you understand exactly what I am talking about but you are keeping up the innocent act in the hope that I will doubt what I know." Alexis retorted her eyes pinning Angela down refusing to be swayed by her wide innocent eyes.

"Now there is no need for this to get ugly, there is no need for me to take drastic action to get what I want, is there? I am making a suggestion for your own good, and when Alexis Colby makes an suggestion people do well to listen because what the first time is a mere hint the second time becomes a fait accomplis…" Alexis let the veiled threat fall between them watching as Angela took a step back.

"Tell people you want to expand your horizons further than Denver, the further away the better I think and the sooner the better as well." Alexis finished finally sliding into the plush surroundings of her car, the silent driver moving to close the door behind her and returning his seat.

Sliding down the automatic window Alexis waited until the driver started the car before delivering her parting words. "Oh and if you so much of think about running to Dex over this little chat… If I so much as get a whisper of you approaching him then the choice about when or where you go won't be in your own hands any longer."

It was late one glance at the bedside clock told him that and the travelling and stress of the last few days had worn him out completely and yet Dex couldn't sleep. Alexis still wasn't home. Nor was she in LA that he knew from phoning Colby Co earlier that afternoon where a still frosty sounding Mark had surprisingly informed Dex that Alexis had flown back from LA at lunchtime, in plenty of time to meet him from his flight. Except she hadn't, instead she had disappeared off to god knows where and not even a difficult Fallon had been able to enlighten him as to her mother's plans for the evening.

"_I don't spy on my mother Dex, if she wanted either of us to know where she was then she would have picked up the phone and called."_

So instead here he sat waiting with only Mr Kensington keeping him company. The Labrador lay patiently at his feet as he sat on Alexis's dressing table stool, both their eyes locked on the door. Dex wondering what the hell it was going to take to get back into Alexis's good graces this time? His own foolish words were on repeat in his brain and Dex winced every time he recalled accusing Alexis of not loving Jack like her own.

It certainly didn't help to learn upon arriving at the ranch that not only had the butler Patrick been sacked in his absence but that Monica Colby had re-emerged like the perennial black penny that she was. Dex could only imagine the fit that Alexis must have thrown, it must have been comparable to the one he had himself pitched upon learning of Monica's so called visitation rights. Someone's damn head was going to roll over that one.

And as for Patrick's sudden absence Dex couldn't shake off the suspicion that there was a link between the butler's disappearance and his missing engagement ring, as despite Patrick's protestations tens of thousands worth of emerald and diamonds did not simply vanish into thin air!

Suddenly the dog's ears pricked up and he began to whine and Dex found himself sitting straighter as if coming to attention, waiting…

The door to the bedroom was pushed open and the overgrown puppy rushed to greet Alexis, showing an ease that Dex envied yet somehow he thought if he tried something similar he wouldn't receive quite so warm a response.

"Hey boy." Alexis greeted the dog affectionately reaching down to scratch him behind the ears, glancing up beneath her eyelashes to look at Dex. "Did you wait up for me huh?"

"We both did Alexis since you didn't bother to call and let us know when you would be home, forgive me for being concerned." Dex couldn't help it, the curtness seeping into his tone as Alexis continued to ignore him in favour of the damned dog that Fallon had given her. "What no hello for me?"

"Hello Dex." Alexis answered blankly.

"Your passionate response is almost overwhelming, I am not certain I can take much more."

"Were you honestly expecting one? Let me guess I was supposed to run into your arms swooning." Alexis scoffed striding further into the room and depositing her fur on the bed before finally turning around to face him.

Sighing Dex had to admit Alexis had a point, their last conversation hadn't exactly ended well and the majority of that had been on his head, and yet Alexis was hardly pulling her punches and he was tired and irritated at her keeping him waiting like an errant child.

"Fine I know I deserve the cold shoulder, I was wrong to hit you for a loan at the last minute but things changed down there over night and it was too good an opportunity to let slip away…Was it so wrong that I wanted to share that with you?"

"You weren't thinking of my benefit Dex I was merely convenient! Anyway I hear congratulations are in order you got your mine without my bail out, or half of one…You and Blake working together that is a combination I never expected; I guess when it come to business and getting what you want Blake is suddenly acceptable? I only hope you know what you are getting yourself into Dex?"

"I can take care of myself Alexis, but honestly considering how you are acting I doubt you really care about my business prospects."

"Oh I care but I must admit your double standards have kept me amused. First you insist on my severing all ties with Blake even though he is the father of my children, something that you know to be impossible and then the next minute you are tying him to us by making him your business partner." Alexis snorted pushing passed Dex as she strode into her dressing room kicking off her shoes as she unfastened her suit jacket.

"You should make up your mind Dex, either he is in or out…" Alexis muttered her emerald eyes narrowing in anger as behind her Dex continued to feign innocence.

Dex had put her through hell for her one time indiscretion with Blake and yet he had been carrying on behind her back with Angela. Normally she would make him pay dearly for that, and he would eventually once things had been arranged the way she wanted.

Alexis knew she had been a fool to trust him again, after all a leopard never changes their spots, first Tracy, then Amanda, then Joanna, then Sable, Monica and now Angela…

It was only a wonder it had taken Dex so long this time to fall into bed with another woman, but perhaps that was merely lack of opportunity. God knows what he had been up to down in Brazil?

"Much like you inviting him to LA to celebrate your racing debut." Dex snapped back watching as Alexis started in surprise before vanishing into her bathroom, unable to simply sit back and take her vitriol. "Oh yes Fallon was only too delighted to rub that little fact in!"

"Well of course Blake is invited, so is half of Colorado, I am hosting a party in the evening, after the race, to officially launch Colby Stud…"

"Oh so Blake isn't your special guest?" Dex demanded his patience wearing thin as he waited for Alexis to remerge.

"Now you are being ridiculous Dex." Alexis huffed finally reappearing from the bathroom in a long pink satin nightgown and robe, sighing as her long day caught up with her. Standing in front of her dressing table Alexis ignored the daggers Dex was shooting her in the mirros's reflection, running her fingers through her hair she paused to glance at her watch, it was gone midnight and she had an early meeting.

"It's late Dex, we've had a long day and I'm tired, if you want to continue to fight then I suggest you find somewhere else to sleep…"

"You're throwing me out?"

"Now who is jumping to conclusions!" Alexis retorted. "Look I just don't want to argue anymore tonight, if you can't let it go then go sleep in one of the spare rooms, I intend to get a few hours of sleep with or without you!"

"If you had been home at a reasonable time then you would have plenty of time to sort this out and get some sleep." Dex muttered unable to completely let this go, just the fact that Alexis was now hiding things from him sent alarm bells ringing. Where had she been all afternoon and evening, and why hadn't she called home to let anyone know?

"Where were you anyway, it took the nanny hours to get Jack to sleep, he wanted his mother…"

"Oh so now I am his mother again. First I am and then I'm not and now I am again, I wish you would make up your mind Dex!" Alexis spat this time unable to mask the deep pain and anger in her voice, and Dex flinched guiltily opening his mouth to speak and probably offer some halfhearted apology but Alexis cut him off. "If you must know Dex I had a dinner meeting with my lawyer and it dragged on longer than expected."

Alexis paused watching in the mirror as Dex backed down sheepishly waiting until he appeared resigned before dropping the next bombshell. "I had intended to back hours ago…Family law is much more complicated than I had anticipated."

"Family law…" Dex repeated confused meeting Alexis's gaze, his heart dropping into his stomach as Alexis's eyes turned predatory. "Why would you need to consult a family lawyer?"

"Just considering my options Dex." Alexis replied airily watching as Dex dangled precariously from the gibbet. "I mean if you are serious about me being Jack's mother…" 

"You know I am…Dammit Alexis it is late just stop talking in riddles and innuendo and tell me what you are talking about?"

Turning on her heel Alexis closed the distance between them, playing her winning hand as she laid her hand on Dex's chest, feeling his heart pound wildly under her palm. "You accused me of not loving Jack like my own, well there is only one way I can think of to prove you and anyone else wrong …Let me show you and the world that Jack Colby Dexter is as much my child as any of my others…Let me adopt him Dex."

Part 5:

It was a warm sunny Californian day and Blake was already predisposed to hating it on principle. Just flying into the familiar airport, the memories of those days recuperating with Alexis flooded back and Blake felt his grip tighten on his armrest. If Blake was being honest he was nervous. Nervous about all the press interest that was certain to surround this event and certain impertinent questions that might be asked. Nervous about playing the happy family for this crowd of vultures, yet deep down he was more nervous about seeing Alexis and having his restraint tested.

Blake had kept his word since returning to Denver he hadn't contacted or even seen Alexis in passing but that didn't mean Fallon's warning hadn't weighed on his mind. Even when working on the preparations for his and Dexter's new venture Alexis had never been far from his thoughts. Several times when he had been up working late he had felt the urge to call Alexis and talk to her but he had somehow found the strength to resist. Now his resolution would be put to the ultimate test, to be near Alexis for twenty-four hours, to be forced to see her play happy families with Dexter and do so with a happy smile for the onlooking press.

Part of him wished he had been able to find some excuse to stay behind and yet one glance at Krystina bouncing in excitement in her seat, a bright eager smile lighting up her face, and he remembered why they were here.

"_Krystina really wants to go Blake…I think it would be good for us, good for the family." Krystle's voice was hesitant as she stood nervously in front of Blake's desk in the library, more like a nervous schoolchild before their headmaster that his ex-wife._

"_You are going…" Blake muttered his eyes drawn back to the paperwork that still demanded his attention. "You take Krystina, it doesn't need both of us."_

"_She needs her father!" _

"_To go to a horse race?" Blake scoffed. "I am not even certain it is an appropriate environment for a six year old…"_

_Her patience at an end Krystle snapped. "This has nothing to do with whether it is a appropriate or not Blake, you don't want to go because this means seeing Alexis with Dex!"_

_Shrugging off Krystle accusations Blake refused to allow her to draw him into that conversation. As far as Blake was concerned the topic of Alexis was closed, especially where Krystle was concerned._

"_No it is more the fact that I am very busy, a new company doesn't just start itself. If I want C.D Mining to be a success than that is going to take time and dedication." Blake retorted picking up his pile of papers that still needed to be checked and signed._

"_This paperwork doesn't do itself Krystle."_

"_Well why don't you let me help with it?" Krystle insisted her blue eyes wide and pleading. "I want to help Blake, I want us to be friends, to be a part of each others lives again not strangers who happen to live in the same house!"_

_Sighing Blake understood some of her frustration. Krystle always had a way of phrasing things that made him think, and feel guilty, but this time Blake couldn't deny his wariness. "I thank you for the offer, I know it is sincere, but I need to do this myself."_

"_Why?"_

"_Because I do!" Blake snapped. "Look Krystle you wouldn't understand, I built Denver Carrington from the ground up with my own hands, my own sweat and tears. I need to be able to say the same for this new venture, I need to know it inside out if I am to make it work."_

"_And that is more important that spending time with your daughter?" Krystle demanded an air of disbelief to her tone, and the way she looked at him as if seeing him for the first time. "Blake Carrington's need to be able to say I did it, I climbed the mountain all by myself is more important than your own child?"_

"_Krystina lacks for nothing."_

"_Except for her father's guidance and attention." Krystle cut in her blue eyes narrowing. _

"_She needs her father to take some interest in her." Krystle insisted. "Blake all you have done for the last few weeks is throw yourself into your work, you haven't spent any time with Krystina at all, you haven't even been tucking her in at night and she misses you."_

"_It is only temporary when things settle down…"_

"_Then it will be the next crisis or expansion project, the next business trip." Krystle added. "You're already planning on spending two or three days a week down in Brazil, when exactly is your daughter supposed to see you? Will you fit in an hour or two here and there, a phone call on her birthday, perhaps she will even get to share a meal every public holiday before yet more paperwork drags you back in here and away from your family?"_

"_Now you are being ridiculous!" Blake scoffed standing up from his seat to move to the decanter pouring himself a drink before remembering his manners and offering Krystle one, not surprised when she turned it down with barely a civil rebuke before launching back into her argument._

"_Am I really Blake? Tell me how of Fallon and Steven's birthdays did you miss when they were growing up? How many times did you take them on holiday, and how many times did you cut them short because you needed to be back at the office?"_

"_You make it sound like I neglected my children?" Blake exclaimed aghast at Krystle's insinuations. _

_Yes he hadn't been a full time father but someone needed to go out and earn the money to keep a roof of his children's head, to keep them fed, to pay for their education. Steven and Fallon may have wanted to spend more time with their father and looking back Blake wished that had been possible but he had only done what was necessary but that clearly wasn't how Krystle saw things and Blake was shocked to realise just how low her opinion of him had fallen. Or had it always been that low and now the tinted spectacles of their marriage were removed Krystle felt able to tell him what she truly thought? _

_Swallowing a large gulp of his brandy Blake answered Krystle, unable to keep the tinge of hurt from his voice at her blunt assessment of his failings as a father. "True the circumstances weren't ideal for Steven and Fallon growing up but they turned out just fine and the situation is hardly the same for Krystina. I am not building the business up from nothing…I am busy now but that will tail off and theis time I have a partner to shoulder the load…Besides Krystina has you here…"_

"_And what about me?" Krystle all but screamed surprising Blake that he actually jolted, his brandy sloshing dangerously close to the edge of his glass._

"_Do you really think this is how I want to spend what little time I have left? You may have years, decades left to do whatever you want with but I don't. I'm stuck in a body that I can't fix, in a house where I have nothing to do, where I feel like an outsider rather than family; living my life solely for my daughter so that she at least has one parent prepared to put her first? What about me Blake, don't I get time to be selfish too?" Krystle exclaimed her eyes brimming with tears._

"_We were supposed to raise her together, to be a family…I was supposed to see her grow up, get married…have children, our grandchildren! Not yours and Alexis's but ours!"_

_Setting down his brandy Blake reached out to the sobbing woman his guilt only compounding. He had brought Krystle to this, one of the strongest selfless people he knew. He had lied both to her and himself, had gotten her hopes up only to dash them when the truth in his heart had been revealed and now he had left her all alone to cope with a traumatised daughter and her own health concerns whilst he chased his own dragons._

_Patting her back as Krystle sobbed into his shoulder Blake knew he had to do something, say something. "I'm sorry…I didn't think…You know I tend to force things I don't want to think about aside, but this was selfish of me…You're right I do need to make time for Krystina…We'll go to the race as a family, the three of us…And that will be just the start, we'll work something out so that I am here to help more with her, give you time to yourself…Didn't you mentioned Jackson Hobbs had offered to show you how to train racehorses? I think you should say yes if you want to do it, don't worry about Krystina we'll make sure she is taken care of. "_

_Lifting her tear stained face Krystle stared deep into his eyes and Blake tried to summon and encouraging smile as she seemed to stare deep into his soul as if searching for the truth in his words. Finally she smiled and Blake breathed a sigh of relief, brushing the tears from her cheek, "That's more like it pretty lady there is that smile I love so much."_

_It was a reflexive thing to say; a simple endearment, however as Krystle rested her head back against his shoulder and leant into him Blake found himself sudden trapped, patting her back awkwardly before he could finally extract himself and return to the safety of his desk._

"_I'll just go up and tell Krystina she'll be so excited Blake, I've told her so many stories about Allegre and when we used to go and watch him race…Oh this is just going to be like old times!" Krystle's excitement was genuine and Blake forced a smile watching as she bounded out the door before allowing it to slip and himself to wonder just what he had gotten himself into now._

"Daddy!" It was Krystina's excited squeal that drew Blake back to the present and he turned his head suddenly to find out what had her so excited.

"Look Daddy the stadium…It's so big!" Krystina added by way of exclamation her little nose pressed against the window as the limousine crept along the packed road into the racecourse to the spot where it could discharge its passengers.

"Well it has to fit all those people and the horses in Krystina so it has to be big." Blake exclaimed turning slightly and catching Krystle's amused smile, and for a moment his concerns didn't seem quite so pressing.

Krystle had been pleasant and cordial towards him the past few days, mainly because he had been making an effort to spend time each day with Krystina and had even picked her up from school once to allow Krystle to help out with the arrival of Alexis's newest racehorse, the one that would run today. Krystle had only once approached him to discuss something of a personal nature and Blake had to admit he had broken out silently into a cold sweat, only to be relieved when it was her natural reservations about taking up Jackson's offer and working, albeit indirectly for Alexis.

Blake had given Krystle his honest opinion but emphasised that she needed to do the right thing for her, and not let her fears stop her from taking an opportunity she wanted. He still didn't know what Krystle had decided, when the time was right she would tell him, but Blake couldn't deny that part of him was hoping she would say yes; if only for the selfish reason that with the stud to occupy her time Blake could stop feeling so damn guilty that he had single-handedly managed to ruin Krystle's life.

Dex Dexter hated journalists, he hated photographers and these damn society columnists whose sole purpose in life was to pry into other's people's lives and dig up their dirty secrets. Leaning against the exclusive bar on the owners terrace at the stadium Dex signalled the bar tender to supply him with another beer as he watched Alexis and Jackson pose for yet another round of press photographs for the selected journalists who had been invited to be the guests of Colby Stud at their inaugural race and exclusively document the event for their chosen field.

Only Alexis Colby could find a way to sell the exclusive rights to her stud's opening event more than once by keeping the rights strictly country based, there were representatives from such diverse publications as Daily Racing Form competing with society magazines like Hello, even French Vogue were doing a piece. And all of them wanted their piece of Alexis Colby's Midas touch and her eye-catching rogue of a trainer with a sapphire eyes and pirate grin didn't hurt either. Together they were the newest, hottest and most talked about entrant to the racing scene in years, Arab sheiks despite their wealth couldn't capture the glamour and sex appeal that came with the Colby name and sex sold papers.

Still that didn't mean Dex enjoyed being placed on the shelf like an old forgotten toy whilst Alexis went around hanging off of Jackson's arm, and every time that damn trainer's hand slid round her waist and he whispered something in Alexis's ear that caused her to smile Dex had to resist the urge to storm across and tear them apart. That would certainly generate some headlines, but not the kind Alexis was looking for and Dex knew that would only place him further in the doghouse than he already was.

Every night since his return from Brazil Dex had been greeted by Alexis's turned back in bed. Even when he had tried his previously infallible technique of rousing her from sleep in the morning with his mouth on her neck, his hand caressing her breast and his best friend eagerly nudging her bottom; even then she resisted, removing his hand with barely contained distaste as she stalked off into the bathroom, the slammed locked door a clear sign Dex wasn't even to think of following her.

Clearly there was only one thing that was going to thaw this cold snap but was that a price Dex was willing to pay?

"_Let me show you and the world that Jack Colby Dexter is as much my child as any of my others…Let me adopt him Dex."_

Perhaps if he had reacted better at the time, had taken time to actually think before opening his mouth and answering, anything was better than.

"_No…Alexis what are you…You're joking aren't you?"_

Alexis clearly hadn't been joking, her open expression had shuttered quicker than a shopkeeper at closing time, the hand that had rested on his chest withdrawn as though touching him had scolded her.

"_You're serious?"_

"_No Dex I simply thought I would bare my heart for your amusement!" Alexis's scorn dripped from her sarcastic tone and even Dex took a step back at the fire that burned in her gaze._

_Running his hands through his hair Dex had been stumped, unable to believe what he had heard, Alexis had seemed to go from accusing him of something, not that he had any idea what the hell she was talking about, to expecting him to simply hand over his child to appease her. A child he had already fought so hard for, his son, the one that he was already guiltily jealous that Alexis seemed to love more than him. Yet whilst Alexis loved Jack and wanted to be a part of his life she was tied to him and Dex wasn't prepared to let that advantage go. Dex would rather have a smaller part of Alexis's heart than loose her completely._

"_You are already Jack's mother Alexis…"_

"_Really tell that Monica!" Alexis spat back her eyes narrowing._

"_Is that what this is about, something Monica said upset you, something about Sable…What the hell did she say?"_

"_It doesn't matter what she said." Alexis insisted disembling. "However the fact remains that I am not Jack's mother no matter how much you might say that I am, I didn't give birth to him, the only way for him to be mine…Mine just as much as yours Dex, just like his real mother, would be to adopt him…To make him mine too!"_

"_To take him away from me!"_

"_NO." Alexis yelled. "Have I ever said that?"_

"_Well you said you needed to consider your options…Dammit Alexis you went a lawyer first without even talking to me about this, you can't go making decisions about my son's life without even the courtesy to consult me!" Dex argued grasping Alexis's arm and pulling her back around to face him. "Now what the hell is this really about?"_

"_I've told…"  
_

"_You've told me plenty." Dex argued hotly. "However now I would like the truth."_

"_The truth." Alexis scoffed. "Coming from you that is rich."_

"_And just what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Dex huffed. "Come on now say what you really think Alexis don't hold back on me…Let me guess it has something to do with Blake…Is this your way of punishing me for going into business with him? It wasn't like you gave me any choice…"_

"_Oh because I am just supposed to open my bank account and let you dip your hands in whenever you need a bailout?" Alexis hissed._

"_It would be better than wasting your money of those damn horses of yours…Alexis Colby the woman who has everything, who now has to invent ways to waste and lose money…" _

_Alexis's slap caught Dex by surprise as did the way she turned and stormed back into the bathroom slamming the door behind her. It was only as the key turned in the lock and Dex found himself once more alone in the bedroom that the fight suddenly went out of him and he sank down onto the end of the bed head in his hands. Dex knew he had over reacted but despite his regrets, Dex was surprised that turning down Alexis's request to adopt Jack wasn't one of them._

Series 12: Blood Lines

Episode 6: The Letter

Part 6:

Second place…

Alexis Colby had never settled for second in her life and she found it left a bitter taste in her mouth that not even a mouthful of champagne could erase.

For one glorious moment they were so close the two horses were neck and neck, Vivace could have done it the two seemed to go through the finishing post together, and for a moment Alexis had been certain. Then a photo finish revealed the terrible truth, beaten out by a hairs breadth.

Still she had to force a smile on her face for the camera's, only Jackson wasn't fooled, but then again considering he had her nails digging into his arm at the time he probably did have more of a clue than most.

"It was a very good showing for the first race out…Next time if we had a little more time to prepare." Jackson's voice was low and soothing, almost patronising in tone, as if one might speak to a child on the verge of a tantrum and Alexis couldn't help but be riled even further.

"Don't blame your failure on me." Alexis hissed through her smile and she nodded her greetings at the other owners who were probably all gloating behind their smiles and sincere congratulations. Everyone loved a winner but there was nothing people liked more than to see a winner fall. "And don't talk to me like that…"

"Second place is not failure. Not for our first race. Most people didn't expect us to even place and Logan's run was favourite, there is no harm in being beaten by the favourite Alexis." Jackson muttered bitterly taking Alexis by the arm and leading her off of the terrace and through the doors to the empty stairwell, well away from prying eyes. "And you would probably feel the same if you didn't have another motive for entering this race in the first place. Well I jumped through your hoops Alexis, how about now you tell me what the hell is really going on?"

"Nothing that concerns you…"

"Wrong lady if it concerns my horses then it is my business as well….No hold your horses…" Jackson huffed when Alexis yanked her arm free and went to rejoin her guests, stopping Alexis dead in her tracks as his strong hand missed her arm but managed to snag the delicate patent belt that encircled her waist and pulled in her flowing red chanel dress . Reeling her back like a struggling fish on a line even Jackson was surprised when the little belt snapped unbalancing Alexis on her heels for a moment wobbling dangerously towards the staircase before his strong hands reached out to steady her.

Feeling Jackson's strong powerfully built arms about her and his muscular chest at her back, not to mention where his hands had ended up; Alexis couldn't contain the blush that flooded her cheeks. It had been a dry few days since her fight with Dex and Alexis refused to let him solve yet another argument through sex. Still she was human and Jackson was a hunk by anyone's estimation; not that Alexis had any intention of sleeping with him but that didn't stop her sex-deprived body from reacting.

"Not bad." Jackson's chuckle was low and throaty against her ear. "Not bad at all…" He added giving Alexis's breasts a deliberate squeeze.

"I don't recall asking your opinion!" Alexis huffed as she reached up and pushed Jackson's strong hands down from the ample handhold he had accidentally grabbed when steadying her, yet hadn't moved to release.

"Well I am offering it regardless." Jackson teased his breath hot on Alexis's neck enjoying the way Alexis's squirmed in his embrace. "Careful Alexis all that wiggling might give Jnr the wrong idea." He added playfully nipping at her neck. "Hmmm you taste as good as you smell."

"Jackson get off me you oaf, you know how many journalists are here and this is not an image I would want Vogue to publish!"

The clearing of a throat caused the pair to look down the stairwell, Alexis's blush only deepening as she stared into an accusing pair of dark eyes, who took in their compromising position with a clenched jaw and fist. For a moment Alexis actually thought violence might break out as she pushed Jackson away unable to meet the hurt angry gaze that was boring into her.

"Daddy can we go back and see the horses after lunch?" An excited voice called out as she caught up with her father, oblivious to the loaded tension floating above her innocent blonde head, her excitement only increasing as she spotted Alexis and bounded over to greet her excitedly.

"Alexis Daddy took me down to see Viv…Vivace, he's beautiful, Daddy said he is Allegre's younger brother…"

"Come Krystina your mother will be wondering where we are." Blake insisted cutting off Krystina's excited babble.

"But you'll take me back down to see the horses after lunch, you promised!"

Nodding Blake wordlessly crossed the room, ignoring Alexis's softly spoken, "Blake please…It wasn't…", as he followed his daughter refusing to meet Alexis's pleading gaze.

"Somehow I don't think Carrington quite believed you Alexis." Jackson muttered watching his partner closely, the pain and worry that Alexis didn't quite manage to wipe from her face. "Although I suppose it could have been worse, it could have been Dexter…That would have been worse wouldn't it?" Jackson added, his question far too knowing for Alexis's tastes.

Pulling herself together Alexis straightened her clothing and removed the remains of her belt, flinging it at him, her scowl deepened as Jackson had the nerve to smirk. "From now on Mr Hobbs keep your hands and your opinions to yourself, and keep your nose out of my personal life unless you would prefer to find yourself homeless, jobless and hitchhiking back to Europe!"

Blake could barely see he was so furious, his fingers tightened around the railing of the owner's terrace, seemingly oblivious to the excited talk and shouts of the people around him as the horses pounded around the grass track. Even Krystina's excited chatter was not enough to draw him out of his mood.

As if able to sense the sudden change in his mood Krystle kept glancing at him in concern, not convinced by the tight smiles that fooled everyone else. Yet Blake was grateful that here and now she didn't chose to confront him about it, instead staying close and deflecting anyone who came to close and lingered too long, giving Blake the buffer he needed to try and regain control of his temper.

All he could see in front of his eyes was Alexis and Jackson in that stairwell. That damn Lothario's hands all over her, his mouth kissing her neck as Alexis seemingly did little to really push him away. The damning flush on her cheeks and aroused nipples more than sign enough that she was enjoying the man's attentions.

Choosing Dexter in the first place, that had been difficult enough for Blake to swallow, but considering their history and the fact that Dexter clearly adored Alexis, enough to give up his inheritance for her; well that he managed to almost accept.

Yet to refuse Blake's own advances, to choose Dexter and then to cheat on him with that…that man…a man who if Jeff's drunken rumblings had any semblance to the truth was responsible for ending Fallon's and Jeff's marriage. To sleep with a man who had already slept with her own daughter…

Part of him wanted nothing more than to stride over, to shake Alexis so hard, to shake some damn sense into her…

Or was this the real Alexis, was she truly incapable of remaining faithful or did she need to have men constantly fighting for her favours and attention? Had Alexis simply turned to Jackson when Blake had decided to take a step back, was he that easy to replace?

Blake could feel Alexis's eyes on him; he could make out the worry in her eyes whenever their gazes brushed against one another's. Part him wanted to believe that concern and guilt was for him, for hurting him, but the part of Blake that wasn't so easily swayed by wishful thinking knew better. Alexis only gave a damn about herself, the concern was for herself, that Blake might turn around and tell Dexter exactly what he had seen and she would lose both him and Jack.

Feeling the sudden pressure on his hand Blake glanced down to see Krystle trying to prise his bloodless fingers from around the railing. The races were over and people were leaving. Allowing Krystle to massage the blood back into his fingers Blake followed her meekly like a lost lamb through the crowds and back to their waiting limousine. Perhaps he had been a fool all along, so convinced by a love remembered that he had forgotten the true character of the woman he loved, a woman who had made a fool out him and Dexter.

"Blake…" Krystle's voice was soft and hesitant and one glance at Blake's pain filled eyes was enough bring tears to her own. Covering his hand Krystle squeezed it gently, her heart fluttering when Blake turned his over, threading their fingers together and squeezing back.

Something had happened, something to do with Alexis, something Blake clearly didn't want or intend to talk about and as hard as it was for Krystle to see Blake like this and say nothing part of her couldn't help but tremble with hope. Perhaps now they would have a chance, perhaps now Blake would finally be able to get Alexis out of his system and out of their lives for good!

Pacing back and forward in her evening dress, the backless nude chiffon fabric clung to the top half of her body and apart from the liberally scattered tiny diamante studs from certain angles and in a certain light Alexis appeared to be wearing very little at all. The one slit cut dangerously high on the thigh, the rest of the dress floated on the air as she moved agitatedly back and forth.

Having pinned her hair up Alexis had gone for dark smokey eyes but had left the rest of her make up light, her lips only touched with the faintest hint of pink gloss that emphasised their fullness, her cheekbones only highlighted with a light blush. Yet even the fact that she would undoubtedly be the best dressed and centre of attention at her party couldn't shift the sickening feeling in Alexis's stomach.

The misunderstanding with Blake still played heavily on her mind, even more since Blake seemed to be doing his damndest to avoid being anywhere near her, instead clinging to Krystle like a second layer of skin. Blake, Krystle and a smiling Krystina, the perfect little family and Alexis's stomach churned with anger and jealousy.

"Don't tell me you are nervous?" Dex's question and sudden appearance caught Alexis by surprise and she abruptly stopped her pacing to stare at him. Dex had almost finished dressing only his black necktie lay unknotted about his neck, having paused to get Jack settled in his travel cot and allowing Alexis to finish her makeup without sticky little hands ruining her hard work.

"Of course not." Alexis huffed glancing at her diamond encrusted bracelet watch as a distraction, anything to avoid Dex's suspicious gaze. "I am just wondering when this hotel sitter is actually going to turn up? I can't be late for my own party Dex!"

"Look we aren't even five minutes late…" Dex huffed glancing at his own watch his dark eyes narrowing as Alexis continued to fiddle and fidget. "What is it? You've been edgy like a cat all afternoon…It's not the party, you could manage that in your sleep."

"It's nothing…It's just been a long day and…"

"Hey talk to me." Dex insisted, genuine concern momentarily chasing away any lingering distance that Alexis's desire to adopt Jack had forced between them. Catching Alexis's arm mid pace Dex pulled her rigid form into his arms, relieved when eventually Alexis seemed to relax slightly and sag against him. "We used to be able to talk about what was bothering us Alexis."

Sighing Alexis gave into temptation, allowing herself to rest her cheek against Dex's strong shoulder, drawing strength from their closeness. "I know."

"Then talk to me…Darling please…" Dex insisted pulling back his hands on Alexis's arms as he stared down pleadingly into Alexis's emerald eyes, watching as the ice in them seemed to melt.

"Dex I…"

The knocking at the door startled them both.

"That must be the sitter…" Alexis muttered stepping back and heading for the door, with every step shaking off the spell that Dex seemed to have cast and she forced the image of Angela and Dex kissing to the forefront of her mind until she knew her resolve was strong enough.

"Alexis leave them…" Dex tried to stop Alexis from pulling away from him, for a moment he had been certain she had had been about to open up and now she was pulling away not only physically but emotionally as well. "Alexis we are not finished talking about this." He tried one last time reach her.

Yet on opening the door it wasn't the sitter as expected but one of the smartly tailored hotel bell boys who smiled nervously at a scowling Alexis before presenting her with an elaborately wrapped box and a bouquet of two dozen long stemmed red roses.

"For Madam from an admirer." The young man gushed handing them over to a startled Alexis.

Accepting the gifts Alexis ignored Dex's piercing gaze stepping back into the room and setting the roses down on the coffee table, turning her attention to the beautifully decorated box. Lifting the lid Alexis gasped as she caught sight of the winners rosette and pinned to it was a short handwritten note.

_My Dear Alexis, _

_Congratulations on a closely fought race you are a worthy adversary my dear, but to the winner go the spoils and I will be collecting mine very soon. _

_Until our next encounter…. _

_Yours EH _

P.S. please accept the rosette and the roses as a small token of my esteem, they pale in comparison, you truly do look stunning in red.

"E.H?" Dex spat his dark eyes flickering between the cosy note and Alexis's flaming cheeks. "Who the hell is E.H? And why the hell is he sending you notes and roses?"

Yet of all the answers Dex was expecting, Alexis to simply shrug her shoulders her eyes locked on the elegant curving handwriting, her voice soft as she answered.

"That is the same question I keep asking myself Dex, and believe me I won't stop until find the answer."


	7. Episode 7: Secrets

Episode 7: Secrets

"Well I have to admit the party is going better than I expected…" Jackson paused glancing down at the scowling woman dancing rather stiffly in his arms. "You look lovely this evening Alexis…Well when you're not scowling and no one has tried to punch me yet, so I take it Blake has kept his mouth shut."

"The night is young…" Alexis answered bitterly unable to keep her eyes from drifting across the dance floor where Blake was accompanying a serenely smiling Krystle in a simple two-step.

"Oh don't sound so disappointed. You wouldn't want to see this handsome face marred now would you?" Jackson teased watching closely as Alexis's eyes finally flickered up, her death glare now transferring from Carrington's back to bore into Jackson's own sapphire blue depths.

"If it wasn't for the press present I would do it myself!" Alexis spat back, contorting her scowl into a smile as one of the smiling dancing couples paused to congratulate them and make polite small talk.

"Who the hell was that anyway?" Jackson muttered as soon as the portly sleaze and his far too pretty wife disappeared again.

"Just the governor, nobody of any real importance." Alexis snorted momentarily amused by Jackson's ignorance before her gaze fell once again on Blake and Krystle Carrington and her stomach gave an answering clench of disquiet.

"So he's not a close personal friend of yours then…" Jackson asked, frowning as Alexis was once again distracted and ignored his question. Turning them round sharply Jackson quickly worked out just what or more to the point who had captured Alexis's undivided attention.

"Blake Carrington again…Tell me again Alexis why you seem so fixated on that man, you are with Dexter, if you wanted Carrington why don't you just go get him?"

"Like life is that simple." Alexis snorted. "Oh you wouldn't understand…Besides I never said I wanted Blake back."

"You didn't need to say anything, the stink eye you are giving him and Krystle says that more clearly than words ever could."

"Well perhaps your translation of my looks is not as accurate as you claim Jackson." Alexis huffed, "I am just worried he will say something to Dex…This is all your fault, your stupid sense of humour, Blake has probably convinced himself I have been sleeping with you all this time…You'll have to set him straight!"

"Me?" Jackson spluttered so surprised he almost missed his step and narrowly avoided crunching Alexis's toes. "Oh no Lady I am not going anywhere near that man voluntarily, the look he gave us. You can talk to him; I have no desire to be pushed over the nearest balcony…"

Flinching as Jackson's flippant comment brought up memories that Alexis had long thought buried, there were still nights she had nightmares about being stuck in jail, of being locked up for a crime she hadn't committed; all of which had started after an employee of hers had ended up going over a balcony. Then if it hadn't been for Dex and Adam doing whatever it took to free her Alexis might still be rotting behind bars.

Dex not Blake had come to her rescue then, just as he had with Shaun, and then that night on Colby Co's roof…He had been there for her through those terrible weeks after Blake had thrown her out from her own home, again!

Dex had done so many wonderful things for her but dammit why couldn't he keep it in his pants, why the need for other women? Why wasn't she enough?

Alexis knew she wasn't the easiest person to live with, she was demanding and moody, but Dex swore time and time again that she was the only woman that he loved and that he loved her despite her bad traits. So why was it every time they fought he found the need to find comfort in the arms and bed of another woman?

Even now as she danced with Jackson whilst Dex sulked by the bar probably downing his own bodyweight in whiskey after their little tiff earlier, Alexis could still feel his dark eyes boring into her back, following their movements closely. Protective…Possessive and there was something about that trait that both irritated and reassured Alexis in equal measure.

After Blake's betrayal Alexis's self confidence had taken a beating and she had needed Dex's constant presence but eventually she had recovered, piecing herself back together had been hard work but now Alexis almost felt like her old self. Was that why Dex had cheated, because she didn't depend on him now the way she had a few months ago?

"Ok Alexis here's your chance…" Jackson's mocking tone cut through Alexis's musing and she glanced up in surprise, which quickly turned to horror as she realised just what Jackson was about to do.

"Oh no you…"

"Blake Krystle enjoying yourselves…Hey Blake how about swapping partners for a moment I need to talk to Krystle about the stud…You don't mind now do you?" Jackson smirked as he whisked a startled Krystle away before she could voice her own objection about being separated from Blake.

Frozen on the dance floor Alexis could feel Blake's blazing gaze burning into her, for a moment he looked so furious at being manoeuvred into this that she thought he might forget his manners completely and leave her alone in the middle of the dance floor. However a moment later Blake took her hand stiffly, his other hand moving to her waist, to her bare back where his fingers dug in slightly out of tension or anger Alexis wasn't sure.

One thing was for certain Blake's anger from earlier hadn't abated in the slightest, one glance in his dark eyes told her that, instead the fire seemed to have been banked and her presence had set it aflame once more. Alexis would have to be very careful to escape without being burnt.

Despite the tension crackling between them and the fact that Blake seemed determined to ignore her throughout Alexis couldn't deny it was nice to dance with him again. Blake had always bashfully proclaimed that he was a clumsy dancer but that was far from the truth, he could dance very well and since he wasn't a giant six footer Alexis could in her heels actually fit against him quite well, she didn't need to strain to stare over his shoulder and if they wanted to talk it was quite easy to whisper in the other's ear without getting a crick in their necks.

Not that Blake had any intention of doing any talking.

Even as Alexis's emerald greens eyes flickered up to study his clenched jaw, before moving to follow his gaze, Blake didn't so much as flinch.

Following Blake's gaze Alexis felt the familiar clench in her stomach as she watched Blake closely watch Jackson and Krystle dance. His expression was concerned and protective and somehow that upset Alexis more than his angry silence.

"What's the matter Blake afraid for your sterling Krystle's safety, Jackson's not a savage he isn't going to ravage her on the dance floor."

"So just stairwells, I didn't realise he discriminated." Blake grunted in reply his dark eyes flickering momentary down to the woman in his arms before looking away, his eyes returning to the safety of watching Krystle lest he lose what little self-control that remained.

Being this close to Alexis as his anger raged through his veins Blake could feel it slipping, his mind whirling between shaking her and screaming out his questions to simply pulling her against him and proving to her and everyone present that she was his and his alone. Yet the memory of seeing Alexis in another man's arms stopped him, Blake couldn't get that damn image out of his head.

"You know I wondered how long it would take before you fell back into Krystle's bed Blake, there had to be a reason she hung around the mansion like a pathetic stray…" Alexis muttered bitterly

"Better that than a bed hopping bitch." Blake growled unable to believe that Alexis was accusing him. Out of the two of them he certainly wasn't the guilty one but judging by Alexis's reaction to his innocent friendship with Krystle you would not believe that.

"Not that I need to justify myself to you Alexis." Blake spat glaring down in Alexis's blazing emeralds, clearly calling Alexis on her infidelity had gotten her back up, well Blake was more than ready for a fight. "Krystle and I are friends, we are civilised adults who have put our daughter's welfare first and it is only proper that I am worried to see her with a man of such low morals."

Snorting at Blake's pompous pontificating Alexis felt the growing urge to wipe that smug superior look right off his face. "Because you are really someone to be judging other people's morals Blake and for your information I haven't had the need to bed hop in a long time, Dex is more than enough of a man for me…"

"I have more credibility than you Alexis." Blake battered back. "And from what I have seen your word is more than a little suspect as is Dexter ability considering you find the need to find satisfaction elsewhere." He added snidely his eyes sliding to Jackson who had managed to coax a smile and laughter out of a surprisingly relaxed looking Krystle.

"I am sure Dexter would find it fascinating to compare notes with your Mr Hobbs, perhaps I should give him notice so he can improve his technique…From what I saw Mr Hobbs has your needs well in hand." Blake muttered sarcastically unable to keep his own bitterness from souring his tone as he dropped his gaze to Alexis's ample cleavage so expertly displayed by her beautiful dress.

Pulling away as the music ended and the rest of the couple paused to applaud the skilled musicians, Alexis couldn't believe what she was hearing, this coldness and bitterness was not the man who only a month or so earlier had pleaded with her, pledged his love and devotion and begged for forgiveness. No this was an earlier incarnation of Blake Carrington one that she had thought lost to the past, the same Blake Carrington who had once stood over her cowering naked form as she pleaded with him that it had been a mistake and that Rodger meant nothing to her.

Trembling as she pulled her hand free from Blake's grip, his touch making her skin crawl.

"No what you thought you saw, reality and a jealous Blake Carrington are far from close acquaintances!" Alexis answered her voice low and accusing before she turned on her heel and stormed off into the crowd, anxious to disappear, leaving Blake Carrington to stare after her perplexed, his supreme confidence wavering slightly as Alexis vanished from view.

"You Carrington are an idiot."

Gritting his teeth Blake turned to stare into the mocking blue eyes of Jackson Hobbs.

"When I want or care for the opinion of a man such as your…"

"Whatever." Jackson cut him off shaking his head as he headed towards the bar. "Dexter is a better man than you Carrington, I imagine only time will tell if he is the better man for Alexis but at the rate you're going I doubt you will even make it to the starting line."

Krystle Carrington had to admit it was a good party. Perhaps a little too large and flashy for her tastes but it fitted Alexis's personality perfectly, clearly no expense had been spared for the grand launch of Colby Stud…

Colby Stud as in everything she did Alexis demanded full credit, even though it would be Jackson's hard work and talent that actually accomplished anything. If she were in his place Krystle knew she would find it far more difficult to accept Alexis lording about and taking all the credit.

Jackson simply laughed the matter off, his blue eyes twinkling.

"_She's the money." Jackson had replied tapping his nose as if confiding a state secret. "To the other money these are her achievements, to the trainers they are mine; Alexis doesn't care about them and I don't care what a bunch of rich stuffed shirts think, so for us it works."_

Still Krystle thought Alexis could show a little more restraint, hiring Lionel Richie for the princely sum of half a million dollars to come and surprise serenade her guests for little more than an hour was hardly value for money even if it was all anyone was talking about. Still it had been nice to dress up and dance, especially those first few with Blake. It had been a long time since she had the opportunity and although Blake had been quieter than normal as though lost in thought he had been an otherwise attentive and considerate escort.

Well he had been until Jackson had whisked her off for a dance and to talk about his offer, once again leaving Blake in Alexis's claws. That Krystle had not approved of and she hadn't been shy in telling Jackson that fact. Not that Jackson had taken her concerns to heart; instead he had fixed her with one of those piercing looks of his, as if he could see through all her excuses and deep into her.

"_Blake's a big boy Krystle besides they need to talk this out…" _

Jackson had retorted cryptically before changing the subject back to the stud and Krystle hadn't been able to turn it back around and find out just what Blake and Alexis wouldneed to talk about. Then Blake had vanished and Krystle would bet her last dollar the reason was called Alexis. However now that the excitement over their surprise entertainment had abated people had begun to leave, drifting back to their hotel rooms or joining friends for drinks at the bar, and Krystle found it easier to search for Blake.

Finding a familiar face Krystle headed over to where Fallon was surrounded by admirers, much like her mother Fallon seemed to be milking the attention for all it was worth and Krystle couldn't help but sigh as her former step-daughter reverted back to her earlier unsavoury pattern of behaviour. Too much of her mother's influence, and Krystle could only wonder what shocking behaviour LB and Lauren had been exposed to living under that roof.

Those poor children. If Fallon wanted to sleep around that was her choice but Krystle could only imagine the terrible standard that would be setting for such young and impressionable minds. Perhaps she ought to have a word with Blake, since his was the only opinion that had ever swayed Fallon in the past. Krystle couldn't imagine Blake would approve and perhaps he could persuade Fallon to move back to the mansion with the children, or at least let them stay part of the week. Krystina would enjoy the company and anything that got the children out of that household and back into one that would show them proper morals the better.

Krystle could only thanks God that poor Jeff had been spared seeing this. He had always adored Fallon and the breakdown of his marriage had weighed heavily on him. Hopefully his trip to Australia had given him the time needed to recuperate and perhaps when he came home if Fallon had removed from under Alexis's thumb then there was still a chance that marriage could be saved…Then perhaps things could start to get back to normal…Fallon and Jeff…Adam and Dana and…Her and Blake?

Krystle couldn't contain the excited little flip her stomach gave when she thought about the likelihood of reconciliation with Blake. Only a few weeks ago she had been so close to giving up all hope, Jackson's blunt assessment had been like a slap to the face and he had been right in one sense she had been putting her life on hold. Not just the situation with Blake and Krystina but the ongoing uncertainty of her prognosis, the drugs seemed to be working but the doctors had urged her to remain realistic, this was a reprieve and not a cure. All the more reason to throw caution to the wind and make sure whatever time she had left was lived to the fullest…with Blake.

Coughing politely as she hovered on the edge of Fallon's circle of admirers Krystle forced a polite smile onto her face surprised when her former stepdaughter didn't return the gesture, in fact the charming smile she was wearing for her companions actually slipped when she caught sight of Krystle.

"Hello Fallon are you having a nice time?"

"I am and you seemed to be enjoying yourself…I didn't realise that you and Jackson had become such good friends."

"We are becoming friends." Krystle replied hesitantly surprised by the level of hostility in Fallon's tone. Surely her stepdaughter didn't think there was something untoward going on between her and Jackson; surely Fallon knew the only man for her was Blake? Was that the reason for her coolness, was she upset on her father's behalf?

"Jackson offered me a job at the stud, a trainer in training." Krystle smiled at her own joke her suspicions seemingly confirmed when Fallon's gaze turned arctic in its temperature. "I am looking for your father, have you seen him?"

Shrugging Fallon took a sip of her champagne. "Not since I saw him dancing with Mummy, things looked a little heated." Fallon added smirking. "Come to think of it I haven't seen much of Mummy after then either…" Trailing off as Krystle flinched at the insinuation. "Perhaps they both needed to cool off a little?"

Her smile frozen on her face Krystle's stomach churned at Fallon's suggestion and at the pleased way Fallon seemed to deliver the news. "Perhaps…I'll just go look for him."

Pulling away from the group Krystle tried to cool the heated blush that had leapt to her cheeks, right now she was the one who needed cooling off before she returned and told Fallon just what she thought of her smarmy comments. Accepting a glass of champagne from one of the few waiters still circulating Krystle slipped out of the large hall Alexis had hired, through the public bar that now was all but empty, save for a few party guests having retreated in there to talk.

Finding the nearest door Krystle sighed when she hit the fresh air. Luckily the LA weather meant the evening was still warm but not as hot as inside and Krystle could enjoy the spectacular view the hotel's hillside location afforded; across the serene expanse of the large pool the cityscape glittered in the background.

"Pretty isn't it." A familiar voice grunted and Krystle practically jumped out of her skin in surprise turning to see Blake's form stretched out on one of the sunloungers a full glass of whiskey in his hand and an almost empty bottle set down by his side.

"Blake I was worried I was looking for you everywhere."

"Well you found me now." Blake muttered clearly unconcerned that Krystle had been worried about him.

"I was worried why did you disappear?"

"Safer." Was Blake's one word answer, although Krystle couldn't be certain whether that was because he didn't want to enlighten her further or simply that he couldn't, considering the amount of alcohol he had consumed it was a wonder he was still conscious.

"Blake did you drink all of that by yourself?"

Frowning Blake picked up the bottle squinting as the remaining contents sloshed around the bottom. "Maybe."

"Why would you do that?" Krystle gasped unable to believe the broken looking man before her was the same Blake Carrington that she had been dancing with earlier. He looked old, far older than she had ever seen him, for once she could see the age difference between them. "Blake talk to me please."

"Doesn't matter…Too late…Lost everything." Blake grunted staring down into his glass before suddenly lifting his head as if a light had suddenly gone on. "Jackson likes you."

Blushing at the sudden change of subject and focus back to her Krystle blushed deeply. "Blake he's just a friend there is no need for you to feel jealous…"

"Not that…He likes you…You need to watch out the man's a womaniser." Blake muttered. "He'll just use you…Spit you out."

"Blake." Krystle couldn't contain her confusion or her concern. Sinking down on to the next lounger Krystle reached out her hand gripping Blake's arm. "Blake you're not making any sense. You were the one who told me to accept Jackson's offer."

Shrugging Blake took a sip of his whiskey, it helped to numb the pain but it meant that his thoughts were more jumbled than he would have liked. "Maybe I was wrong…Not a good idea, Krystina needs her mother."

"But…" Krystle began about to protest when Blake suddenly lurched to one side. "Blake?"

"I don't feel so good." Blake groaned leaning heavily on Krystle for support as the sparkling lights of LA seemed to merge and dance before his eyes.

Sighing Krystle used her strength to get Blake to his feet, one of his arms slung over her shoulders whilst she gripped him tightly as they staggered back into the hotel. Fortunately they didn't bump into anyone they knew on the way up. Fumbling in Blake's jacket for his key Krystle managed to get it open and help Blake inside where he promptly fell face forward on the bed and a moment later his loud snores echoing around the room.

Sinking down beside Blake on the bed Krystle pushed her hot hair out of her face taking a moment to catch her breath. Then resigned she set about making Blake more comfortable, pulling off his shoes and jacket, rolling him onto his back so she could at least remove his black tie and loosen his collar. Lying there fast asleep his normally combed back hair curling over his handsome brow Krystle couldn't resist, stroking the curl back from his forehead she lent forward and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead, then another this one on his lips.

Pulling back Krystle felt her heart leap into her throat as Blake smiled in his sleep and years seemed to slip from his brow.

"Another?" He whispered surprising Krystle; clearly Blake wasn't as asleep as she thought. Leaning down she answered his request, this time it was less chaste and Krystle sighed in pleasure when Blake's smile grew.

"I love…"

"Yes?" Krystle whispered hopefully her joy ebbing slightly as Blake sighed and seemed feel further asleep nuzzling into his pillow. Yet his next words froze her heart in her heart in her chest.

"I love you Alexis."

The moment Alexis opened the door to their suite her feet aching and exhausted she almost turned around and went back down to her dwindling party. That was certainly going to be easier than dealing with the scowling man lounged out on the sofa in the living room, staring at a silent television that was playing an old black and white movie as he sipped his bourbon.

"I wondered where you had gotten to." Alexis muttered breaking the silence as she stepped out of her heels a contented sigh as her toes stretched out and wiggled on the deep pile carpet.

"Someone needed to check on Jack, that babysitter hardly spoke a word of English." Dex grumbled.

Snorting Alexis poured herself a drink. "Yes because that was why you left the party early. I don't buy that for one second Dex."

"Well why not, you honestly expect me to believe that a man you haven't even met is sending you love notes and expensive red roses." Dex huffed flinging away in disgust the card he had been turning over and over in his hand most of the night.

"Not haven't met, haven't seen!" Alexis corrected Dex prissily before taking a sip of her brandy. "They are not one and the same Dex. He was at the art exhibition, we talked for a moment admiring a painting we both liked, when I turned around there was no one there and your little friend told me his name," Alexis paused unable to contain her sarcasm at the mention of Angela.

Even the thought of that innocent little red headed home wrecker caused her temper to boil and tested her resolve to keep Dex in the dark, when part of her wanted nothing more than to let him have it.

"My friend…You mean Angela? Honestly Alexis I think she is more your friend than mine, I haven't seen her since the exhibition, she wasn't in when I popped over to the apartment to check on the renovation."

Snorting Alexis rolled her eyes, not taken in for a second by Dex's innocent little act. He had denied his fling with Amanda at first too and look how that had ended up. No she wasn't going to be lured in by those oh so dark and guileless eyes again; Alexis knew Dex had cheated on her and had the photographs to prove it.

"Checking on the renovation, I've never heard it called that before." Alexis muttered under her breath glancing at her watch that now showed just how late it was before finishing her brandy. "Look do we have to do this now, it's very late, I have been on my feet for hours…I just want to go to bed…"

"Yes we have to do this now!" Dex barked jumping up from the sofa, taking hold of Alexis's arm and holding it firmly, keeping her in place so that they could finish this and Dex could finally work out what the hell had caused this deep freeze between them.

"There was an insinuation in your tone, an unsavoury one."

"Oh how clever of the Wyoming cowboy to notice." Alexis spat back, her cheeks blazing with temper. It was bad enough that Dex had cheated on her, at least this time it hadn't been a member of her own family and he had been discreet about it, discreet enough that Alexis had been oblivious until Monica had came along and shattered her happy little world.

Yet to stand there and feign ignorance about the whole affair…

Alexis felt her resolve slip, she had already had a dreadful day and that spat with Blake had merely been the cherry on the top. The need to let rip at someone bubbled barely under the surface and her plans to sit on her discovery until after Jack's adoption dissolved. Dex had said no after all, and he was as stubborn as mule about certain things. Well if she was going to lose Jack anyway then there was no need to hold back any longer.

"Tell me Dex was it the fact she was so wide eyed and innocent that appealed, or did she give you a shoulder to cry on, I mean her last name wasn't Carrington or Colby so there had to have been some other reason for you to… or was it just that…" 

"To do what? I don't know what the hell you are talking about!" Dex demanded his dark eyes searching Alexis's face for some clue as to what the hell was going on here. "Alexis just say it!"

"Were you just getting your own back? Is that why?" Alexis replied icily her voice low and deadly. "I hurt you, so you hurt me back, was that what it was?"

"Alexis I don't understand what you are talking about, or where this is coming from but I swear I haven't done anything to hurt you…Is this about the adoption, because I said no? Do you think standing there and making up accusations is going to make me change my mind?"

"No this about you and your inability to keep your dick in your pants DEX!" Alexis all but screamed, unable to keep her pain from her voice.

"WHAT!"

"You heard me." Alexis spat her attention suddenly diverted as in the other room Jack woken by the noise began to bawl. "Now look what you have done!"

Pulling her arm free Alexis marched into the bedroom where a screaming Jack was sat up in his crib his hands outstretched as angry frightened tears made their way down his little face.

"Shush Baby…" Alexis tried to calm him, closing her eyes as Jack's podgy arms wrapped around her neck and his screams subsided. "Mummy's here my precious little boy…It's alright…Everything is going to be alright."

"Alexis…" Dex's tentative voice echoed from the doorway his handsome face caught between confusion and regret. "Alexis I swear I don't know what you are talking about, I know my past record hasn't been perfect but you have to believe me. Since we have been together I haven't so much as looked at another woman. I love you, I am faithful to you!"

"You must think I'm really dumb…Monica and now Angela…"

Sighing Dex tried to keep up with Alexis's sudden change of mood and direction. "Monica was a mistake and it was before we got together, yes I wanted you and I was lonely and miserable and she took advantage of that fact; the woman is unhinged. But Alexis I haven't slept with Angela, I haven't so much as kissed the woman. Why would you even think such a thing?"

"Liar." Alexis growled. "I've seen the pictures.."

"What pictures? Alexis I am not lying." Dex pleaded as he crossed the room and sank to his knees in front of Alexis, wrapping his arms around her middle and pressing his head against her stomach. "Darling I swear on my life…No on Jack's life, the most I have ever done is hug the woman…I think once she kissed me on the cheek but that is all…"

Was Dex telling the truth, had Monica tricked her? Alexis was so confused, part of her wanted nothing more than to believe Dex, to push aside her doubts. "Monica showed me pictures…"

"And you believed her?" Dex gasped unable to believe what he was hearing. Monica Colby once more interfering in his life, once more trying to destroy him. "Alexis the woman tried to have me killed and you believed anything she said?"

"I…I…You were so distant and then suddenly you were all attentive again, it made sense if you were feeling guilty about cheating and…"

"That wasn't the reason. Alexis I love you! Why else would I sacrifice so much to be with you?"

Trembling Alexis closed her eyes. "I want to believe you Dex…"

"Then believe me." Dex insisted getting to his feet. "Darling I am not cheating on you…I have no plans to ever leave you, in fact I had hoped…Before all of this, the reason I was suddenly attentive… Dammit Alexis I was going to ask you to marry me!"

"Marriage." Alexis gasped, of all the things she had been expecting Dex to say that had not even been on the list. "Dex I don't know what to say…It's so sudden…" She added walking the now sleepy Jack back over to his cot and laying him back inside his dark eyes full of sleep gazed up at her before his little eyelids shut.

Holding his breath Dex closed the distance between them quietly, stalking Alexis carefully as one might a flighty doe. Then moulding his chest against her back he slid his hand around her waist, resting her chin on her shoulder as he joined Alexis in staring down at the sleeping baby.

"I love Jack Alexis and I know you love him too…I want what is best for him, that was why I asked you to be his mother you love your children with a devotion I have never seen before and I wanted that for him…Although sometimes part of me wishes that you could love me like that too." Dex confessed closing his eyes as the awful truth fell from his lips. "I know that makes me a bad father, jealous of my own son…"

Snorting with amusement Alexis shook her head surprising Dex. "No Dex that makes you the same as most first time fathers getting used to sharing their wives for the first time and suddenly not being the centre of her world. Although considering my track record I would have thought you would be used to that by now." Alexis retorted. "I have always neglected you for my children and I'm sorry."

"And I have lashed out and made you feel guilty for simply being a good mother." Dex added turning Alexis round and pulling her close. "For that I am sorry but most of all I am sorry for what I said the other day…It was cruel and I was wrong, you love Jack just as much as Fallon or Adam."

"Shall we just both admit we were wrong and sorry and call it quits? It is getting late and if we go on apologising for everything wrong we have done to the other we will be here all night and I really do want to go to bed." Alexis cut in relieved when this managed to tease a smile onto Dex's face.

"Alright when you're right you're right." Dex replied softly his dark eyes twinkling with dubious intent as he sudden scooped Alexis up into his arms and carried her over to their bed, setting her down on the top of the covers as he hovered over her. "Your wish is my command milady."

Laughing Alexis lay back against the pillows her red manicured nails tracing the line of Dex's jaw. "Well I had meant to get in the bed not just on top of it but I suppose I should really get undressed first." 

"Hmmm need any help with that?" Dex teased his fingers roaming down her bare arms relishing the way Alexis trembled slightly at his touch as they both strung out the moment.

Smiling Alexis slipped her hand around his neck, her fingers threaded though his hair as pulled his lips down to meet hers in a scorching kiss. "Oh I certainly hope so Mr Dexter…I certainly hope so indeed."

When Blake awoke for a moment he actually thought he might have been in some sort of accident, his head and body ached and it was far too bright in the room. However when had managed to turn onto his side, blinking the distortion out of his eyes his gaze finally came to rest on a bedside table on which rested his watch, one glance at it's face confirmed his suspicions that it was late, far later than he usually woke.

Groaning as he forced himself to sit up Blake's discomfort quickly turned to confusion as the sheet dropped down to his waist revealing his bare torso. Lifting the sheet merely conformed his worst nightmare, he wasn't wearing a thing and yet his clothes were not strewn randomly over the floor like one would expect they were draped almost neatly over the back of the bedroom chair.

"Oh good you're awake."

Krystle's bright almost cheery tone made Blake wince, his head pounding as he tried to remember letting Krystle into his room…drawing a worrying blank.

"Krystle I…"

"Here I suggest you drink this." Krystle answered thrusting a bubbling mixture towards Blake that he had no choice but to accept staring at it suspiciously before thirst made him down the potion.

"Urghhh I don't feel so good."

"Well that is what happens when you drink a bottle of whiskey I barely managed to get you into bed you were so drunk." Krystle chastised and Blake finally lifted his heavy gaze from the sheet, blinking when he finally took in what he was seeing…

The Krystle in his bedroom wasn't an illusion…Or a figment of his hangover.

The Krystle in his bedroom was wearing a nightgown and a robe…

The connecting door between his suite and the one Krystle was sharing with Krystina was ajar.

And he wasn't wearing any clothes…

And as the panic fuelled adrenaline rushed through him, the jumbled memories from the night before coming back in no particular order…

Dancing…Drinking…Alexis…Arguing…Kissing…

Oh god he had kissed someone.

But as he wracked his memory Blake couldn't remember clearly, had he kissed Alexis or Krystle? He remembered arguing with Alexis, he remembered…Buying a bottle of whiskey…Sitting outside by the pool alone but after that there was nothing, the rest was a terrible blur other than the feel of warm insistent lips and soft hands that had been real hadn't it?

Yet more worryingly how had he ended up in bed naked, when the last thing he remembered was sitting out by the pool? And considering his naked state and Krystle's presence in his room, Blake had to wonder…

Surely if he had slept with Krystle he would remember it, wouldn't he?

Adam Carrington was unsettled.

Well actually he was more than unsettled. Merely unsettled didn't keep him awake most of the night, and in the end he hadn't been able to lie there staring at the ceiling, his tossing and turning disturbing Dana who was already hacked off at him without adding a night without sleep to the charge sheet.

Dana…Adam just couldn't lay there in bed and look at her beautiful clueless face a moment longer…If she had any idea of the terrible thoughts running through his head she would have been so deeply hurt, so Adam found himself shutting down and pulling away from her.

It wasn't her fault…It was his, all of his chickens coming home to roost as it were and even as he sat on the small balcony of his suite Adam couldn't help but blame himself. If was his own shortcomings that had brought him to this point, shortcomings as a son, a husband…a father…

It had come to him suddenly whilst he had been 'enjoying' Alexis's party, although if Adam was being honest he had spent most of the night propping up the bar. It had been a good party but then he had bumped into an old collage friend…Well friend was a loose term…Acquaintance was closer to the truth.

In that this acquaintance had been one of the rich silver spoon college kids who Adam had been forced to wait on to help pay for his tuition. Adam had resented Oliver Fabray for his full ride, doting parents and bright future all mapped out for him. Resented the fact that despite having it all and being blessed with good looks to boot, Oliver had the nerve to actually be a decent human being as well.

If only he had been an ignorant, selfish bastard at least then Adam could have hated him without a twinge of guilt.

Yet Oliver was a nice guy, handsome, good at sports and with the ladies and everybody loved him; well everybody except Michael Torrance who had seethed behind his books and worked his fingers to the bone in order to surpass Fabray's grade. Michael used to dream of graduating at the top of his class so he could look forward to nothing to much as rubbing Oliver's nose in it; to be able to gloat as Oliver's parent's devoted glances soured just a little in disappointment and that top job was suddenly offered to Michael instead.

Except that reality hated Michael Torrance born Adam Carrington and just as his rightful family had been ripped away from him so was his dream of surpassing all his peers and Oliver. In the end it had been so damn close, Adam knew his final written pieces had been flawless and if only he had kept his cool in the oral…But he had wanted it so badly and old Professor Halifax seemed to loath him for some reason.

One lousy point…One tiny point had been all that ended up separating them and Adam had been forced to watch a beaming Oliver go up and collect the award that should have been his. Had to watch Oliver has his photograph taken with his beaming family and proud professors, a photograph of the graduating valedictorian that would proudly adorn the main staircase, hanging alongside generations of other winners.

And then to make matters ten times worse Oliver had the gall to come over and congratulate him. To walk over to where Michael was standing alone with only his aging 'grandmother' and offer him his hand; to thank Michael for riding him all year, that without their competition he might never have achieved this potential. That thanks had stuck with Michael through the years, whenever he heard on the grapevine a familiar name and it still brought back the same sense of sick failure.

It was the very same feeling that flooded Adam now as the memories from only a few hours before replayed in front of his eyes.

_Sitting at the bar oblivious when all of a sudden there he was, still tanned and handsome, his blonde hair shorter and the sides tinged with a hint of grey, but on Oliver it looked good._

"_Well bless my…Torrance isn't…Michael that is you right?"_

_Oliver's expression was open and delighted, but it wasn't a feeling that Adam shared even as he forced himself to accept the other man's hand._

"_Actually the name is Carrington now Adam Carrington." Adam replied, forcing himself to remember that they were now on equal footing. Oh Oliver may have grown up with the Brady bunch style parents, skiing in winter and sailing in summer, but Adam had Blake Carrington and Alexis Colby standing behind him now. No longer was he some bright scholarship kid from the back of beyond Montana, one generation up from poor white trash, Adam was a Carrington…_

"_Oh god I heard something about that, the Carrington kidnapping, it made the news even over here…I guess I never put the names together, I mean there had to be more than one Michael Torrance in the world right?"_

"_Right." Adam's reply was low and drawling and Oliver's smile dimmed slightly before he recovered._

"_Well how the hell are you doing? What are you doing now…God I expected to come head to head with you in court by now!"_

"_Oh I went into the family business, oil, timber, construction…I'm a senior executive." Adam couldn't help but gloat, yet his satisfaction would have been far more satisfying if Oliver hadn't looked pleased for him._

"_That's great Mic…Adam, well I went into litigation, I spend most of my time pursuing civil liberty or pro-bono work, you know I always did have a fondness for defending the underdog and then there has been the campaigning. Helen likes to call it my 'hobby' but I secured a nomination to replace our existing republican congressman as a candidate in the next term."_

"_How nice for you." Adam forced the compliment through his clenched teeth, once upon a time he had entertained hopes of political office however his own convictions had put paid to any chance of election and those pipe-dreams._

"_I hope not to make too poor a showing." Oliver replied modestly. "Helen doesn't mind, as long as it doesn't interfere with my proper job…But I promised her, her and the kids come first. You know what I mean right where would we be without them…" Oliver joked clapping Adam jokily on the shoulder, his smile growing as Adam forced a polite smile. "It really has been great seeing you again Adam, if you ever come out to Chicago we should meet up and make a night of it."_

"_Sure I'll give you a call." Adam replied politely even as he mentally made a note to avoid so much as Chicago airspace from now on…just in case._

Damn Oliver Fabray, damn him for his prefect life, his loving wife, his children, his noteworthy and honourable career, and damn him for the future that Adam knew he was never going to enjoy…

At least not if things stayed the way they were.

That was the real reason Adam was out here on the balcony, the slight breeze ruffling his bed rumpled hair. He could have it all…or at least almost it all...Adam Carrington still had the chance to become something, if not a political leader himself then there was scope to be the power behind the throne, it was a lot safer, a lot longer term than depending on the fickle whims of the public.

There was still time to claw his way to the top of his new profession, to head up Colby Co or Denver Carrington, to emerge from out of his parent's shadows.

There was even still time to have the family he so desperately craved providing his was prepared to make certain sacrifices along the way…Providing he was willing to give up Dana.

Towelling his hair that was still damp from his shower Dex Dexter made his way as quietly as possible around the bathroom, just as he had an hour or so earlier when he had slipped out of Alexis's sleeping arms to visit the hotel's award winning gym, doing his level best not to wake her or Jack. Clearly he had been a little too successful as even when Dex had returned from the gym the pair were still obliviously in the land of nod and Dex thought it best to enjoy a shower in peace before waking them.

After all there were some things he still needed to get straight in his own mind first.

Thoughts of Monica and what she had almost succeeded in destroying had kept Dex from truly sleeping well and enjoying without distraction the warmth of Alexis's body pressed against his own. Part of that had been anger, and Dex had silently seethed through the night wanting nothing more than to track Monica down and deal with her once and for all, he had some contacts who owed him favours...but the other part had been hurt…and it was the hurt he was really struggling with.

It was hurt that he hid behind a smile, and hurt that he tried to expunge by pounding his disquiet into the punching bag or straining his muscles with weights. Yet as hard as tried Dex couldn't make the pain leave, how could he when the cause was still very much alive and kicking…

After everything Dex had done for Alexis, true his record did speak against him, but that she had believed Monica's lies so easily…

Did Alexis really think so little of his word, of his promises that this time it was different, different because they were raising a child together and Dex had sworn to always put his son first; different because of everything they had both been through to find a way back to each other…

Did Alexis really think he would be such an idiot as to throw that all away for a meaningless night with another woman?

Hadn't he told her enough, hadn't he shown her this time things were different? He had forgiven Alexis for her indiscretion with Blake, he had sacrificed his inheritance rather than give her up…He had turned his own world upside down for her…Wasn't that worth a little faith, a little trust?

Was it any wonder Dex felt hurt and a little betrayed?

Yet it was a hurt he had to find a way to live with.

Staring at his reflection in the half fogged up mirror Dex summoned a smile, yet even to his eyes it looked a little fake. He should be over the moon right now; he was on the cusp of having everything he had ever wanted, for the first time when he mentioned marriage Alexis hadn't immediately shot him down. They had reconnected last night, the cold distance that had grown between them evaporated in the heat of their fight and even steamier reconciliation…Well as a steamy as it was possible to be whilst sharing a bedroom with his, no their son.

Jack was Alexis's son just as any of her other children, and Dex now realised just how deeply his questioning of her feelings had wounded Alexis, when lying in bed half dozing after they had made love there had been a rare moment of openness. A glimpse of the vulnerable Alexis that Dex knew only to well was hidden beneath that impressive armour of hers.

"_Thank you." Alexis's voice was soft, the words whispered into Dex's bare chest as she rested against it, the steady thump of his heartbeat under her ear, and then her lips as she turned her head to press a chaste kiss over his heart._

_Dex could barely summon the energy to raise his eyebrow, and the post orgasmic languidness was lulling him to sleep, but there was something in way Alexis had spoken that caught Dex's interest. Some how he doubted her thank you was about the three rather intense orgasms he had just given her; no thanks were needed there Alexis had successfully demonstrated her gratitude and although he wouldn't object to more of those 'Thank you's' it was late. _

"_For what?" His voice was low and gruff and for a moment Dex wondered if Alexis had drifted off._

_Then Alexis shifted again, this time propping her chin on one of his pectoral muscles, feeling her gaze burning into him, Dex opened his eyes and even in the dim light Dex could see the hesitancy and the softness in her gaze. "For saying what you did about me and my children, that you could see how much I loved them…That I am a good mother to Jack…" _

"_You are a wonderful mother." Dex corrected, clearly for once saying the right thing as Alexis's smile grew and even in the dark Dex could pick out a certain glassiness to her eyes. "But you didn't need to thank me for that, I am only saying what is obvious; everyone can see what a great mother you are..."_

Yet as Alexis snorted her disagreement Dex didn't need to be a seer to realise there was far more to this than Alexis was saying. "Anyone with eyes to see and that isn't an idiot knows how much you love your children Alexis, you would go to the ends of the earth and back again if one asked."

"Once upon time you and I both know several people who would have argued very much for the opposite." Alexis countered softly with a sigh before turning and resting her cheek against Dex's warm skin, unpleasant memories of the many times a certain person had flung the accusation of being an unfit and unfeeling mother at her.

"Yeah idiots I told you." Dex quipped trying to lighten the mood slightly. "Darling what is it…I know something is bothering you, just tell me."

"I just…It means a lot to know you think I am a good mother, even after everything, that you still believe in me enough to want me to raise your child."

"Our child remember." Dex corrected reaching down and threading his fingers though Alexis's curls. "And I don't think that is all it is, tell me, talk to me please…"

Biting her lip Alexis couldn't find the right words to explain just what she was thinking and feeling.

After all what sort of mother leaves her own children? That was the question Alexis had see burning at the back of people's minds during her exile from Denver that was the question Fallon had once flung at her, her daughter's beautiful blue eyes burning with righteous anger. And despite reconciling with her children Alexis had missed so much, they were all adults now and really her early attempts to mother them often ended more poorly than if she had simply stayed out of things. Like Krystle, the one who stood by smiling serenely and portraying this faux maternal glow like she was the reincarnation of the Virgin Mary; taking Alexis's place in her children's lives.

Alexis had been pushed out of her children's lives, and all that maternal love had been bottled up, was it so surprising that when suddenly they were back in her life all that built up love and urge to protect came gushing back out, almost smothering her children in the process? They resented it, often they had resented her, but with Jack it was different, with him she could shower him in affection and he lapped it up…

Perhaps she was guilty of pandering and spoiling him too much; perhaps she had pushed Dex away becoming more focused on Jack than was healthy?

"I am sorry I made you feel like an outsider with your own son Dex…I just love him so much, and I had all my other children taken from me…" Alexis paused, her throat suspiciously scratchy to Dex's ears so he tightened his hold on her, feeling Alexis squeeze him back and the dampness of tears on his chest.

"When I came home to find Monica she taunted me that I could never really be Jack's mother, then there were those pictures and I was so hurt and afraid that you were going to leave me and take him away and I knew I had no real claim on him which was why…"

"You brought up the adoption." Dex finished, the pieces finally falling into place. "Alexis darling I can't promise that things will never change between us, even if I did I think we are both old enough and scarred enough to know life has a habit changing people. However I can promise not to use Jack as a weapon, I love my son and he needs a mother, he needs you. You are the only mother he has ever known and even if things between us change you will still be his mother."

"Thank you Dex."

"Except you don't sound entirely convinced." Dex replied softly lifting his head to gaze down at her.

"As you said life changes things, it changes people." Alexis muttered. "Today you mean that promise but tomorrow…"

Perhaps it was because of her little spat with Blake earlier on, the sudden and unsettling re-emergence of that cold version of Blake, the version that looked at Alexis in contempt. All of a sudden Alexis had been thrown back in time, it was as if the rekindling of love between them had all been a dream and Blake was back to thinking she was poison. If Blake could change so completely, what was stopping Dex from doing the same?

Alexis was so engrossed in her own fears she almost missed Dex's next words.

"…Then perhaps when we get back to Denver we had better meet with that lawyer of yours…"

"_What?" Alexis exclaimed lifting her head from Dex's chest, all pretence at sleep abandoned._

"_You heard me." Dex answered softly, reaching up and brushing the lingering tears from her cheek. "If this is really that important to you, if you need proof, something more than my word then we should talk to the lawyer at least find out more about it." _

_Alexis's smile was all the answer Dex needed._

Wandering out of the bathroom, one towel rubbing his hair, another wrapped about his hips Dex found this sudden train of thought coming to an abrupt halt as another, far more pleasant took its place. Dex forced aside all dark thoughts, pushing aside his hurt and lingering doubts about allowing Alexis to adopt Jack.

After all the sight of long bare tanned legs poking out from beneath the hem of his own pyjama shirt as the wearer bent over treating him to a brief glimpse of pinchable rounded globes would do that to a man. And if their owner hadn't just picked his gurgling son Dex might have been tempted to do something about it then and there.

Instead Dex walked up behind her his arms sliding round her waist as his lips found the sweet spot on her neck and nuzzled into her soft skin. "Now here is a sight to warm the blood." Dex muttered against Alexis's skin his hands moving to fill in the blanks about just whose blood was being warmed, and just where it might be heading.

Snorting in amusement Alexis did nothing to stop Dex's exploration even if she rolled her eyes at Jack and shared a grin. "Really, can it rouse you enough to order some room service; our son would like his breakfast."

"Hmmm his father has quite the appetite as well." Dex teased nibbling Alexis's exposed shoulder. "Quite the appetite and you taste so good..."

"Well I doubt very much what you are after is on the hotel menu." Alexis snorted as Dex's hands slipped down and under her shirt. "Dex darling, that isn't the telephone."

"Are you sure?" Dex's voice was light and teasing, as was his touch and Alexis could feel her own blood warming but as Jack began to grow fractious at being made to wait for his bottle the mood was quickly broken.

Sighing Dex capitulated gracefully, and with an amused sigh sank down on the bed reaching for the phone, "What do you want?"

"Oh just some mixed fruits, grapefruit juice, coffee. If I am going to be seen in a swimsuit at Fallon's little gathering I had better not eat much…Oh but can you get some scrambled egg for Jack as well as his bottle?"

Nodding Dex dialled and placed Alexis's order along with a large portion of cooked breakfast for himself; if he was going to make through more enforced time with the Carrington clan he needed proper fortification. "Now are you sure you don't want anything else?" Dex asked teasingly holding his hand against the receiver, "Any last demands speak now or forever hold you peace?"

"I would have said so if I did." Alexis snapped back rolling her eyes at Dex's choice of words, subtle he was not.

Shrugging his shoulders Dex thanked the operator and then set the phone back down, content to lay there and watch Alexis potter around their suite getting both herself and Jack ready. Something that was easier said than done as just as Alexis seemed to finish fussing with her hair and move on to picking her outfit for the day Jack decided to try his own hand at hairdressing; taking a handful of Alexis's curls in his sticky fingers and giving them a sharp tug.

"Ouch Jack no Mummy prefers her hair still attached to her head." Alexis muttered glaring at Dex's reflection in her vanity mirror, his smirk drawing her ire.

"What's so funny Dex?"

"Nothing." Dex answered innocently but he couldn't suppress his smirk.

"It is not nothing…Ouch Jack no…Dex for goodness sake help me with this little monster don't just lie there enjoying my suffering." Alexis exclaimed until finally Dex heaved himself off of the bed to assist her, taking a squirming Jack from her arms.

"Now Jack don't mess with Mummy's hair or she'll spend the next ten minutes fussing with it. After all not a curl can be out of place for the beach…" Dex teased catching his son's little hand as it reached for his chest hair, setting his son down on the rumpled bed with a toy to chew.

"Says the man who spends at least fifteen minutes daily in front of the bathroom mirror trying to comb his hairline so it doesn't look quite so thin on top…"

"Which surprisingly enough only started after I got involved with a certain someone…" Dex muttered catching Alexis's gaze in the mirror.

"You cannot start blaming me for genetics Dex…Hopefully Jack will avoid that particular Dexter trait." Alexis tutted as she brushed a line of blusher across her cheek.

"Both my father and grandfather had full heads of hair!" Dex countered, defending his and Jack's lineage with pride. "It's you Alexis, if it's not falling out from stress, then it's you tugging it out."

"I do not tug on your hair." Alexis sniped.

"Yes you do." Dex replied teasingly his smile growing as his dark eyes twinkled devilishly.

"When?"

Leaning down over her Dex rested his hand against the vanity, bringing his lips close to Alexis's ear. "Let me refresh your memory, it's normally about the time you shout…Oh God Yes…Yes…Dex."

"Git." Alexis spluttered dropping her brush and smacking Dex on the arm for good measure.

Fortunately before Alexis could retaliate further there was a knock on the door. "Saved by the bell." Dex quipped opening the door to the bellhop with a trolley who if he was surprised to be confronted with a half naked muscular man dressed in only a towel he hid it well.

A crisp tip later, the now smiling bellhop handed over his trolley and the messages left at the front desk and left the family to their breakfast. Alexis handing Jack his bottle, watching as the baby managed to hold it all by himself. He was growing up so quickly and Alexis felt her heart ache at the thought that soon he wouldn't be a baby anymore but a proper little boy. Watching as Dex poured the coffee and flicked through the messages Alexis glanced down at her fruit, picking up her fork as her gaze flickered over to Dex's plate. Waiting until Dex was distracted Alexis reached out and snatched a piece of crisp bacon from his plate.

"I saw that." Dex deadpanned adding sugar to his coffee, frowning as he caught sight of one from Fallon reminding of them of the address and not to be late; that one he passed to Alexis before slitting open a sealed envelope. "Honestly Alexis if you wanted bacon I could have ordered you bacon but no you'd rather steal mine."

"I only wanted one piece, honestly Dex." Alexis tutted accepting the note Dex offered. "However if you are going to make a fuss about it…"

Covering her hand Dex leant forward and cut off Alexis's retort with his lips, waiting until he could feel her smiling against his own before pulling back.

"I suppose you think that settles that then…A kiss." Alexis huffed watching as Dex turned his attention back to his post.

"Yes dear." Dex replied smugly waiting until Alexis lifted her coffee and took a sip before adding. "Although if you let me finish my breakfast and promise to lay off the hair we could try for another round of Oh God Dex just to make sure."

Putting down her coffee cup Alexis barely managed to swallow her mouthful, shooting Dex a glare that should have scolded and yet Dex smiled, unable to resist getting the last word.

"So was that a no?"

The sun was shining, the beautiful blue waves were lapping at the sandy shore, children's laughter reverberated in the air as they ran around playing happily, and Blake Carrington hid in the shade of a parasol doing his best to keep down the rolling sense of nausea and hoping that those painkillers kicked in soon. He hadn't drunk that much in months, but even so Blake couldn't remember enduring a hangover quite like this one before, perhaps his age was finally catching up with him?

He certainly felt every minute of his sixty-four years old today.

Perhaps it wasn't just the whiskey, the too bright sunshine certainly couldn't be helping matters, nor was the fact he hadn't been able to sleep his hangover off like he normally tried to do. However Blake hadn't felt comfortable staying in bed, staying naked in bed whilst Krystle pottered about their joined rooms like it was the most natural thing in the world to be doing. It was most disturbing, as was the strange way he occasionally caught Krystle looking at him, her gaze part concern and part anger, and Blake wasn't certain which part gave him most cause for concern.

At least now he was pretty certain they hadn't slept together…Almost certain…

When he had grabbed his trousers and shuffled off into the bathroom, locking the door behind himself for good measure Blake had been confronted by an old scruffy man in the glass. Turning on the shower he had done his best to salvage what he could, removing the scruff from his chin and rinsing the foul taste from his mouth whilst trying not to gag on the toothpaste. Then stripping to get into the shower Blake forced himself to make a quick inventory, relieved when there seemed to be no signs of any night of passion lingering on his body.

_In fact the only mark of any kind were the slowly fading bruises from his violent one sided encounter with Dexter in Brazil, and the knowledge that Krystle had undoubtedly seen them set Blake's teeth on edge. Returning from Brazil Blake had been able to explain away the bruising on his jaw and scabbed lip as a clumsy encounter with a glass door he hadn't seen in the dark. He had been careful to always keep his shirt collars buttoned to hide the finger marks at his throat and had curtailed his daily exercise regime whilst his cracked ribs took their time to heal. _

_He had almost gotten away with it with no one the wiser but now Krystle knew or at least would suspect there was more to his story than an accident and if Krystle shared one characteristic with his first wife then it was her inability to leave things alone. Oh the questions would come, perhaps not right away like Alexis who couldn't abide being kept in the dark for a second. No Blake mused as he stepped in the shower, hoping the pounding on the warm spray could help with his pounding head, Krystle would wait, normally until the worst possible moment before asking._

"Blake…"

Speaking of the devil. Blake squinted against the bright sunlight as a simply dressed Krystle took the seat beside him under the umbrella. "I brought you some juice…I thought it might help with you know…" Krystle spoke again a slight blush deepening her tanned skin, as if embarrassed to even refer to the state Blake had found himself in the previous evening.

"Thank you." Blake answered gruffly; wincing as if speaking made his head worse, yet he made no move to pick up the juice Krystle had sat down on the table.

Watching as her former husband continued to stare straight ahead, his dark eyes shaded and hooded with brooding thoughts Krystle struggled to contain her concerns. Something was very wrong with Blake; his mood had vacillated over the last few days. Almost buoyant when he had first returned from Brazil he had then withdrawn into his own shell, busy and driven Krystle had been forced to remind Blake that he had had other obligations, and now part of her wished she hadn't bothered.

A busy driven Blake was one thing, that she had experience of, that man she knew how to reach. The man sat staring off into the horizon was another man entirely and in some ways that man frightened Krystle. This dark brooding Blake, the man who turned to alcohol to drown out his problems, reminded her of a Blake she had glimpsed before most prominently during a night Krystle had tried so very hard to forget but that sometimes came back in the most terrifying clarity.

Whenever those memories had assaulted her in the past Krystle had been able to calm and comfort herself with the thought that that Blake was a thing of the past. A man brought about by pain and suffering, something she as his wife had been able to alleviate. She had changed him, made him better. Yet that comforting little lie no longer held any weight and even sitting so close to this Blake caused her skin the goosebump even in the heat.

Nevertheless she couldn't just stand up and leave Blake to brood on his pain, Krystle had to try, for herself, for Krystina, to draw him out of this depression that he seemed to be sinking into…the only other alternative source of assistance was unthinkable…yet…

"Blake I wish you would talk to me." Krystle pleaded her eye blue eyes flickering from Blake's closed expression out to the children playing on the sand. "You used to talk to me…You used to trust me…"

"It isn't a question of trust." Blake grunted shifting uncomfortably under the microscope of Krystle's piercing prairie gaze. "It is personal and I prefer not to talk about it…" 

"Just like you prefer not to talk about those bruises on your side or those marks around your neck." Krystle choked. "Blake someone hurt you…"

"And I survived just fine." Blake answered forcing his gaze away from the horizon as he caught sight of some familiar new arrivals and the sight of the happy family made him wince slightly, the pressure caused his head to thump all the more.

"It has something to do with Alexis doesn't it?"

Trying not to flinch as Krystle unerringly hit the target spot on Blake knew he failed when his companion suddenly drew in a breath.

"Blake when are going to realise that woman is poison…poison to you, to our family…If you could only see the influence she is having on Fallon, the grandchildren…dear god Steven had to leave Denver he was so warped by being around his mother why else would he try to hurt you the way he did?"

"You cannot blame Alexis for Steven's actions." Blake snapped his dark gaze flickering up to meet Krystle's startled by his abruptness, "You don't know the details Krystle, believe me or not but Alexis was just as horrified by Steven's actions as I was."

"Well perhaps if once in a while someone in this family actually took the time to tell me the details then I might finally understand what the hell is going on around me." Krystle retorted her cheeks pinched from Blake's rebuke.

"It is not my secret to tell." Blake muttered dismissively. He was not going to be the one to fill in the details, he had already hurt Alexis enough, he wouldn't add gossiping about her suicide attempt behind her back to his list of crimes, even if right now he was more than a little conflicted about his own feelings for his first wife.

"Blake please…"

"No Krystle or would you prefer I fill people in on some of your own secrets…I am a man who keeps his word, Steven hurt me, so I will keep his reason for doing so to myself."

"And the reason you were beaten? Who are you protecting by keeping that a secret Blake?" Krystle demanded her voice slightly shrill and Blake shushed her afraid just who else might overhear.

Glancing around Blake was relieved when no one seemed to be about. Turning to Krystle he forced himself to his feet, hoping to find both relief from the sun and Krystle's interrogation by retreating into the house, before answering with finality.

"That is my secret to keep."

Adam Carrington wasn't hiding.

Really he wasn't he was just taken a moment to himself to enjoy the scenery and get away from the noise that Fallon's two monsters were creating as they tore around the adults trying to have a conversation, generally stealing all the attention, nothing like the woman who had bore them.

Yet as he wandered away from the party and down towards the water's edge Adam admitted if only to himself that wasn't really the reason, even if being surrounded by his family did seem unusually suffocating today. Watching Alexis coo over baby Jack and play happy families with Dexter, Fallon with her two monsters, Blake and Krystle with Krystina….

Adam Carrington was going through the motions, or more precisely he was playing the part of the eldest son, the Carrington heir, often that was how things felt. Ever since the day he had discovered his real identity part of Adam had always been playing this part, always trying to fill the chasm that his kidnapping had created in his family; trying to meet his parents lofty expectations of their precious first born and always falling short somehow.

Never quite good enough, always a disappointment in some way…Never given the leeway that others, namely Steven enjoyed simply because he was the son they got to raise, he was the son who everyone bent over backwards to make allowances for.

Steven rejects his birthright, rejects Denver Carrington, something that Adam had craved since arriving in Denver, but instead of turning his back on Steven Blake goes out of his way to give him another chance. Steven chooses men over women and yet still by some miracle he is the one who ends up being a father and allowed to raise his son whilst Adam had his precious boy wrenched away, a wound that could never really heal.

Steven testifies against his own mother in court leading to Alexis being convicted and yet she forgives him with no grudge after Adam is the one to get her free, yet when Adam makes one mistake in caving into blackmail he is put on probation. Even now every day at Colby Co he could feel his mother's spies watching his every move, him a junior vice president!

So now Adam could feel himself closing off, simply going through the motions. Arriving at Fallon's little party he had played the part of the elder brother. Sticking by Dana's side, one of the few places he felt most like himself but also conversely one of the places he felt most like a fraud. Smiling and making polite conversation with his own family, and yet on the inside he felt strangely hollow.

If Adam had really had a choice he would never have come to LA, but he had because it was expected of a Carrington. Well it was expected of him, Steven as usual had found an excuse and no one blinked an eyelid. Fallon worst of all seemed to need to justify Steven's appalling behaviour. Adam had felt her gaze on him, her blue eyes boring into him as if daring him to contradict her.

Well in the past Adam knew he would have seized any opportunity to make an example of his brother's bad behaviour but lately Adam found himself too tired to even protest. Why bother to make a snide comment when no one really cared what he thought? As always Steven would be good and he bad. Besides Fallon loved nothing more than rubbing in the differences between them; of emphasising who the real Carrington children were and always would be, Adam and Amanda, even Krystina were really only add on's.

Not that Adam particularly cared what Fallon thought of him when really there was little deep emotional connection between him and his sister, well none other than mutual irritation and suppressed disquiet. Their first meetings still stood between them, a barrier that prevented them from ever really enjoying a close sibling relationship. How many brothers admitted even to themselves in secret that they found their sibling attractive, how many brothers had accidentally almost ended up in a sexual relationship with their sisters before their blood ties were revealed? It wasn't exactly normal, nor the best basis for building any sort of trust or understanding.

Bending down as the waves almost lapped over his bare feet, his shoes abandoned somewhere back on the sand dunes Adam found a flat pebble. Picking it up he ran his fingers over the smooth surface before tossing it out into the ocean watching as it skimmed three times before sinking. As a boy, back on the farm pond he had once managed ten, but that was back when he had no family to speak of and a lonely boy had found comfort in lonely pursuits; all whilst imaging to himself of a proud father standing behind him teaching him to skim stones or fish. Yet Blake had never taught him anything, save for the fact that he could never really measure up.

Picking up another stone as he wandered further down the beach Adam was just about to let it fly when a muffled snuffling noise jarred him from his melancholy thoughts. Turning around and following the noise back to it's source he was surprised to find a familiar looking boy curled him hidden from passing view by the dunes of sand, the snuffling caused by the crying he was trying so hard to suppress as he buried his face against his knees.

Wrong footed and unsure what to do for a moment Adam almost considered leaving. As a boy he had many times hidden himself away on the farm, somewhere private where his overprotective grandmother couldn't find him, letting the deeply held pain out the only way he could before scrubbing his face clean of any traces of childish tears. Yet as much as he had desired privacy at those times, hadn't he really, secretly been hoping for someone to find him, for someone to try and make it better?

The words were falling from his lips before he could stop himself, but instead of warm and soothing they sounded curt even to Adam's own ears so was it any wonder the poor child almost jumped out of his skin, a look of unadulterated horror on his face.

"Danny what are you doing this far from the house? The family will be worried…"

Yet at as Adam's words sank in the look of horror quickly vanished morphing into something else, something darker, something that Adam recognised all too well considering the amount of times he had seen that look reflected back in the mirror, pain, anger, longing and hurt…so much hurt.

"No they won't." Danny spat back, scrubbing at his face with the back of his hand, before smearing them on his shorts. "No one even noticed I was gone…No one ever notices."

"Well I noticed." Adam retorted surprised by the bite to the normally quiet and shy little boy…well not so little any more, not really, Danny was only six months younger than LB so in a month or so he would be turning nine.

"You didn't notice, not really…You weren't looking for me, you only found me by accident." Danny muttered back his face and tone sullen. "No one looks for me. Nobody wants me"

"I am sure that isn't true." Adam answered yet the boy's defiant expression rang true and Adam found himself doubting his own assertion. "Come on now lets head back, Fallon will be worried and she can sort out whatever little tiff with LB caused this."

Snorting Danny chose to keep his next comment to himself but Adam could tell from his face the boy didn't believe that for a second yet he reluctantly obeyed his uncle. Danny trailed after him like a scolded puppy back towards the house where much to Adam's surprise everyone seemed as preoccupied with themselves and their own concerns as they had been when he had left. No one it seemed had noticed Adam's disappearing act, but what was worse no one had noticed Danny's either.

Glancing back at his young companion Adam didn't know what hurt worse that no one had noticed Steven's son had missing for god knows how long or the look of twisted satisfaction on the child's face as he proved Adam wrong.

"I told you." Danny muttered smugly his face twisted slightly, a bitterness that sat wrong on the shoulders of an eight year old. "Nobody ever notices."

Forcing a smile Dex tried to keep track of the conversation going on around him but honestly he was struggling to keep his mind from wandering. Reflexively his hand tightened on the ball of paper in his jacket pocket, the note that was the reason for his wandering concentration. Dex didn't need to pull it out in order to refresh his memory of the contents, no they were already burnt into his brain, and Dex doubted even a bottle of the finest single malt would be able to erase them.

_Mr Dexter, _

_We have never met properly but I do believe I have something that belongs to you in my possession, a certain letter written by your father. You really should learn to be more careful about where you dispose of such sensitive information. However being the good Samaritan that I am I have decided to return it to you lest it fall into less discrete hands. Although when I say return…_

_Please see enclosed a sample of your fathers letter, I will be only too happy to supply the remainder, for a modest finders fee. Shall we say five million dollars? Why should you pay I can almost hear you ask? Well I shall answer this question for you since I am such a good sport, read your half of the letter and then ask yourself is this something you would want splashed all over the newspapers? What is five millions dollars when compared to your honour, your family's pride?_

I will give you five days to make your decision Mr Dexter.

_Sincerest regards from your secret keeper._

Blackmail the words stuck in Dex's throat and yet that was not the worst of it. No the worse by far were the contents of his fathers letter and Dex wished to high heaven now that he had simply burnt it when he had the chance. Anything was better than the knowledge he now carried around his head.

Yet when he had first opened it Dex had been unable to contain his curiosity, making a fumbled excuse to Alexis who was far too preoccupied fussing over Jack as he managed to smear half of his scrambled eggs into his hair.

_Making his way into the bathroom Dex's hands trembled as he smoothed out the crumpled paper his father's familiar handwriting springing up from the page._

_My dear Farnsworth,_

_I never thought I would find myself having to tell you this in letter. My father urged me before he died to tell you the truth but I will admit I was too much of a coward and so I delayed and now there is no more time. I prefer to think that I loved you too much to be able to stomach seeing your pain in person but perhaps it was really my own pain and your anger that I was really avoiding._

_Once upon a time I had thought I would take this knowledge with me to the grave but if you have made your choice and that choice really is Alexis and not your family then perhaps knowing the truth will bring you some sort of closure?_

_There is no easy way to say this Farnsworth so I will just come out and say it. I am not your father…_

"Dex…Dex darling." Alexis voice jarred Dex back to the present and he zoned back in to find her staring at him oddly, a look shared by Fallon who as usual looked far from impressed by his presence.

"Sorry I just drifted off for a second." Dex mumbled ignoring Fallon's snort of amusement at his expense. "Did I miss anything?"

"No only Fallon suggesting we ditch the swimwear and skinny dip, oh and then next I thought Krystle and I might go shopping and braid each others hair." Alexis deadpanned her sore mood turning to concern when Dex merely nodded.

"Oh that sounds nice. I think I need a top up." Dex answered distractedly glancing down at his half empty glass, it was a poor excuse but one Alexis seemed to buy and for once Dex was glad she was distracted by her family. A distracted Alexis didn't ask awkward questions, questions to which Dex didn't have the answers only more questions of his own.

Heading into Fallon's beach house Dex found the nearest free room, shutting the door behind him as he slid to the floor his palms sweating slightly as they closed once more on his father's letter…

No on Sam Dexter's letter, the man who raised him but who wasn't his father. He wasn't a Dexter…Dex Dexter was a man who didn't exist…

So who was his real father, who was Dex really? If he wasn't a Dexter just who the hell was he?

_Babies and couture don't mix so hire a nanny!_

It was a lesson her bitch of a mother had tried to drill into Alexis's head when she had been younger, back when she had high hopes for her two daughters perhaps even marrying into the landed and moneyed gentry or even a minor royal. Yet like with the rest of her mother's pearls of wisdom Alexis had done her level best to ignore it, or in some cases set out to deliberately do the opposite just to spite the woman who had raised her.

So just like she had ignored her mothers advice about keeping men at a respectable distance the night of her sixteenth birthday; although Alexis had to admit ignoring that rule had had far more satisfying consequences. And had breastfed her own children even though it _"wasn't ladylike and dear god Alexis what do you think formula milk was invented for?"_

However for all Elizabeth Morell's many faults it seems she was right on the money when it came to this bonne mot. Babies and couture didn't mix well especially when juggling them and trying accept a rather full glass of what was promising to be an excellent merlot; promising before Jack got his sticky little fingers on the rim and with a giggle upended the contents over his stunned mother.

"I might have some bicarbonate of soda in the kitchen." Fallon offered helpfully as she watched her mother dab futilely at the rapidly spreading red wine stain that was slowly bleeding down Alexis's white linen couture sundress.

Scowling down at her dress Alexis knew it was ruined, no amount of product would get the wine out now…unless perhaps she put it straight into soak…part of her cursed herself for wearing the white dress in the first place, it had only been a vanity on her part knowing the white would make her light tan seem darker than it really was.

"Here hold Jack I'll try and salvage what I can." Alexis muttered darkly handing over a less than impressed Jack over to Fallon since his father was nowhere in sight.

Grudgingly taking the sticky baby Fallon to looked around for Dex. Babies simply weren't her thing, well other than her own Fallon had never really enjoyed children, her own were definitely the exceptions she spent time with them because she loved them…other people's children were a different matter entirely.

"I still have a few things hanging in my bedroom wardrobe, nothing too high fashion but better than going around smelling like a winery." Fallon called out after her mother as Alexis strode back into the house, hoping that her mother wouldn't be long as Jack's little fingers closed about a lock of Fallon's long dark hair and gave a tug.

"Ow that hurts you little monster." Fallon grunted glaring down slightly at her newest sort of sibling, and perhaps it was her imagination but Fallon could have sworn Jack's grin only increased at her protests and he tugged again, something akin to demonic glee in his dark eyes; it was almost as though he was doing it on purpose, trying to make her life uncomfortable…just like his father…

Meanwhile back in the house Alexis was tearing through the kitchen trying to find the biscotti…no that wasn't right bicarbonate of something…Glaring at each little bottle or pot as she turned Fallon's kitchen upside down Alexis was all but ready to strip the damn dress off and throw it in the bin when a pointed cough interrupted her rampage.

"Yes Krystle can I help you with something." Alexis replied without even bothering to turn around, wishing she had thought to bring her glasses some of the print on these products were so small, perhaps it was a conspiracy between the pharmaceutical companies and optometrists as every year Alexis swore the labelling on things got smaller and someone somewhere had to be making a profit out of it?

"I only came in here for a drink but I can wait until you are finished….Doing whatever it is you are doing…" Krystle answered, which was only partly true.

At first when she had seen Alexis go into the house alone Krystle had followed with the sole intention of cornering Alexis about Blake, about her relationship with Blake and what Alexis had done that meant Blake had ended up looking like he had barely escaped with his life. Yet the moment she had stepped into the kitchen Krystle had been so bemused by Alexis's bizarre behaviour that she actually forgot her real reason for following Alexis in the first place.

"Oh please don't let me stop you, may I recommend the blue bottle on the left I hear it packs quite the punch."

"Alexis that's bleach." Krystle snipped back her momentary baffled state easing as Alexis returned to something approaching her normal behaviour.

"Oh is it, silly me." Alexis retorted innocently before finally flinging her hands up in desperation. "I'd give it a miss then, anyway there is plenty of wine outside, why don't you go hover there instead of spying on me?"

"I am not spying." Krystle snapped unable to believe Alexis's nerve, of the two of them Alexis was far more likely to engage in such behaviour. "Besides I don't like to drink during the day so I will stick with water if you don't mind?"

Filling her glass up with water Krystle began to edge out of the kitchen, her resolve to confront Alexis over Blake crumbling, before her curiosity got the better of her; "What is exactly are you looking for?"

"The kitchen sink." Alexis drawled sarcastically before turning around and displaying her ruined dress.

"Honestly what does it look like…Ah ha!" Alexis cut off in her excitement as her eyes fell on a clearly unused stash of baking items, chief among them a tub of bicarbonate of soda. Yet even with her prize in hand Alexis suddenly came to the realisation she had now no idea what to do now she had it.

"You need to put it in soak and then sprinkle the soda over the top." Krystle added in knowingly and Alexis didn't need to look up she could hear the vapid blonde's amusement at her general household ignorance.

"Why thank you Betty Crocker." Alexis muttered yet there was little real venom in her words as she pushed past Krystle without a second glance to find a free bathroom, making her way through the house until she found what once must have been Fallon's bedroom.

Locking the door Alexis unzipped the dress letting it drop to the floor. Picking it up she sauntered on her wedges to the ensuite stopping dead as her hand closed on the handle and the damn door suddenly swung open and she found herself face to face with an unexpected and definitely uninvited guest; who judging from his expression was just as stunned to see her. Although of course that could also simply have been the impact of seeing her in her underwear.

For a moment neither could speak but in the end it was Alexis who recovered fastest, her free hand moving to her hip as she struggled to remain aloof and intimidating despite her distinct lack of clothing; thanking her lucky stars that at least today she hadn't chosen to surprise Dex and go commando.

In the end her opening gambit was predictably but it wasn't a classic for nothing, settling for righteous indignation Alexis spat out her words little tiny bullets from a pistol. "What the hell are you doing in here?"

For a moment there was a long pause before an incredulous voice answered. "Urghhh using the bathroom obviously the …although I am open to changing my mind if you had another idea." Hobbs drawled raking his eyes up and down Alexis's exposed curves.

"Very nice." He added suggestively. "You know there was no need to rush in after me and rip your clothes off Alexis an invitation to join you in the hayloft back home would have been more than enough." Hobbs added wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"Oh shut up and get out." Alexis huffed even as a slight blush darkened her cheeks at Jackson's blatant admiration, her amusement growing as Jackson pouted and sighed dramatically before making his way over to the bedroom door, unlocking it before turning back to Alexis.

"You sure I can't stay and give you a hand putting that back on?" Jackson teased. "Or perhaps taking anything else off?" He added provocatively opening the door, pausing before turning back and complaining. "I haven't had the full show yet."

"Just go before someone else sees you!" Alexis hissed in exasperation. "We are in enough trouble as it is."

"Oh I…" Jackson paused his retort dying in his throat as he turned back to the corridor and caught sight of their audience. "I think that might be a little difficult…Hello Mr Carrington we do seem to be making a habit of this don't we?"

"Oh you have to be kidding me." Alexis groaned, holding her stained dress up against herself suddenly self conscious as she peaked around the doorframe and Blake's burning gaze transferred from Jackson to herself and Alexis felt their hairs stand up on the back of her neck. Blake wasn't merely angry he was incandescent.

"And to think you almost had me doubting what I had seen before." Blake growled shaking his head in disbelief that he almost been convinced to give Alexis the benefit of the doubt. Was he really so deluded by his own feelings that he forgot who he was dealing with here, Alexis had proven just how incapable she was at remaining faithful during their first marriage. What was the saying, leopards don't change their spots?

"Blake it is not what you think…" Alexis began yet Blake cut off before the excuses could begin.

"Don't lie to me." Blake hissed his dark eyes flashing dangerously flickering over to Jackson who seemed almost amused by their spat. "Will you please remove yourself Mr Hobbs, Alexis and I need a private conversation."

Glancing between the pair Jackson debated refusing, Carrington looked ready to tear something apart and Jackson would prefer that was him and not Alexis and he was about to open his mouth to say as much when Alexis spoke first.

"It's alright Jackson Blake won't hurt me, will you Blake?" Alexis insisted her eyes locked on Blake's fuming dark eyes watching as he nodded sharply his mouth twisting slightly as if disgusted by the insinuation.

Waiting until Alexis's resident hired stud had rounded the corner before speaking Blake's scowl deepened. "How long has this little fling been going on?"

Sighing Alexis ran her hands through her hair in frustration. "Nothing is going on!"

"Oh please…"

"No Blake, I am not lying!" Alexis spat.

"You honestly have the gall to stand there and deny this?" Blake spluttered. "Alexis I have caught you red-handed not once but twice in the last two days. God know what you actually get up to back at that ranch of yours, how blind does Dexter have to be? Or is he so whipped that he actually believe these ridiculous stories of yours?"

"Dex trusts me."

"Then he is even more of an idiot than I originally thought! I mean I knew he followed you about like a love sick puppy but to turn a blind eye to you whoring yourself across Denver, yet again, the man must be truly a glutton for punishment…" Blake hissed stunned when Alexis's hand leapt out and smacked him clear across the cheek.

"Don't you dare talk about Dex that way, he is kind and loving and he accepts me for who I am which is more than you ever did Blake Carrington." Alexis all but screamed back, no longer caring about keeping this quiet, all rational thought abandoning her; a whore was that what Blake really thought of her?

Reaching out and grabbing Alexis's arm before she could reach out and slap him again Blake felt his own temper bubbling up, his fingers digging into the soft flesh pulling her closer so he could glare down into her fiery emeralds. "He is a fool."

"No you're the fool Blake." Alexis grunted lifting her chin to that they were practically nose to nose. "You threw me away and it took months for you to realise you'd made the biggest mistake of your life. Well you're too late Blake I moved on, I found happiness without you and that kills you and now you'll do anything to try and ruin it. Well it won't work, I won't let you hurt me again, I am going to marry Dex and live happily ever after and you can stew in the cesspit you have made of your life!"

Stunned…There was no other word through it and Blake released Alexis as if her touch had burned him. Staggering back to the wall for support Blake's gaze bore into Alexis's before searching her face for any little sign that she was lying. Blake had spent years learning all of Alexis's little tics, he normally knew when she was lying but proving he was right was another. Yet now he couldn't see any of the usual signs and it was like a dagger stuck in his side.

Alexis marrying Dexter…

"Alexis?" Dex's confused and worried voice interrupted the silent pair.

Dex had bumped into Jackson on the terrace and the stud manager had mentioned in passing that he might want to head inside and break it up. Confused Dex had followed Jackson's cryptic clue, at first wondering just what he was supposed to be doing.

Then he heard them, Alexis's raised voice even if he couldn't make out what she was saying, and he felt a flush of panic. What if someone, what if Blake, because lets face that was the only person that could get Alexis to raise her voice like that, what if he was hurting her again?

Heading towards the sound of the raised voices it was only as he rounded the corner that he could actually understand what was being said, "… _I won't let you hurt me again, I am going to marry Dex and live happily ever after and you can stew in the cesspit you have made of your life!"_

That revelation alone caused Dex to stop dead in his tracks, the sight of Alexis in her underwear clutching a dress against herself was merely secondary, she didn't seem to be danger. Yet Dex needed some reassurance that what he had just heard was real and not just a delusion of his already heightened emotional state. _"Alexis?"_

On hearing Dex's voice Alexis felt her anger dissolve slightly and hurt and pain take the vacant space. Staggering towards a confused Dex Alexis all but fell into his arms feeling Dex's strong arms close around her no questions asked. Just the scent of his cologne and the rough texture of his plaid shirt under her cheek made her relax and feel safe.

"Take me home Dex please." She whispered into his shoulder relieved when she felt Dex squeeze her slightly and pull them both away from the remains of the ugly scene behind them not even glancing back at Blake who continued to lean on the wall for support.

The stabbing pain in his side continuing but instead of abating it actually grew in intensity and Blake gasped sinking to the floor clutching his chest as he struggled to catch his breath…His chest felt on fire…Oh god Blake felt the panic begin…Was this what it felt like, was this how he was going to die…A heart attack after a row with the love of his life?

As darkness overtook his vision Blake only had one thought that plagued him, he was going to die and his last words to Alexis had been vile and poisonous…And there was no time left to say he was sorry.


	8. Episode 8: The Suitor

Episode 8: The Suitor

It was now or never. Alexis felt her stomach churn with nerves as behind the closed doors she could hear the excited murmurs of the gathered crowd suddenly drop to a dull whisper as the music began.

"You look beautiful Mummy." Fallon spoke tears brimming in her blue eyes, as she made sure for the last time that everything was perfect before moving to tend to Lauren who was fidgeting. "No baby not out here wait till we get inside then you can scatter them.

Swallowing nervously Alexis gave a nod to her daughter, she was ready, it was now or never.

At the sound of the large double doors opening every head turned to face the back of the room, craning for the first glimpse of them. A murmured ahh rose from the gathered crowd as a nervous Lauren stepped out, turning back to her mother for reassurance, before a look of determination entered her dark brown eyes and she began to stalk almost running down the long walk laid out for her, forgetting her other task completely much to the amusement of the gathered guests as she found safety in the waiting arms of her doting father.

Fallon by contrast executed her role perfectly, her steps measured and graceful.

"Last chance to change your mind you know, I happen to know there is a car outside with the engine running..." Adam's voice was teasing and low by her ear and were it not for the facts her hands were full and shaking Alexis would have smacked him for his cheek.

Settling instead for a glare Alexis allowed him to take her arm and then together they stepped out to face the waiting crowd.

"Oh god." Alexis gasped under her breath her throat closing as she struggled to breath, allowing Adam to guide her and set their pace. Making their way down the aisle seemed to take an eternity, and Alexis could feel the eyes of Denver on her, probing and judging. No doubt by the time she arrived at the alter her choice of dress would have double analysed and dissected.

Finally they reached the end and Adam lifted her hand from the crook of his arm placing it firmly in another's grasp. Yet Alexis could barely contain herself as it was, if she glanced at her happy bridegroom she might loose her resolve entirely.

The ceremony was a blur, she remembered the priest talking, and she herself must have answered because suddenly there was applause and her veil was being lifted and Alexis turned prepared to offer her first kiss to her new husband…

Her nerves now dissolving into pure shock and disbelief as her eyes locked with none other than a smiling….

"BLAKE!" Alexis gasped, panting as she tried to catch her breath clutching at what she thought was her wedding dress but that turned out to be severely rumpled sheets tangled around her legs.

It had all been just a dream, a very real, very vivid dream…

Sighing with relief Alexis all but collapsed back against her pillow, kicking off her bedcovers and allowing the cooler night air to dry the sweat that clung to her frame and made her nightdress stick to her body. It took a few moments more for the effects of the dream to really dissipate but when they did reality came back all the more starkly.

She had dreamt about Blake…about marrying Blake.

Groaning Alexis turned and curled up on her side her hands tightening on her sheets hoping they could anchor her in the here and now, anything so she didn't have to recall that damn vivid dream…Or remember how in that moment of realisation she had felt something unbelievable and incredibly disturbing…She had married Blake and she had felt shocked but underneath that surprise Alexis had been happy about it…

Banging her palms against the mattress Alexis forced herself to remember her encounter with Blake less than twenty fours earlier, his irrational anger and jealousy, his cruelty. Right now all she should be feeling was contempt and irritation with the man and yet…

Alexis knew her last blow had wounded him, she had hurt Blake terribly and she had used poor Dex to do it. Alexis wasn't certain it was really a good thing that Dex had yet to bring up what he must have overheard. There was no way he hadn't considering some of the hopeful and yet uncertain glances she had caught him shooting her way all through their trip home. He was either gazing at her or scowling off into the distance about something and for once Alexis was content not to call him on it lest it lead to other conversations she would much rather avoid entirely.

Yet part of him clearly wanted to believe what she had said but Dex had been burnt once too many times when it came to them and marriage and he wasn't so much of a fool for her that he would willing court heartache. However that restraint wouldn't last forever and Alexis could only thank this latest distraction, whatever it was as long as it wasn't another woman that kept him from putting all his energy into pursing the door Alexis had unwittingly opened in a moment of blind rage.

Still…As she raised her head Alexis noted for the first time that she was the sole occupant in her bed…That didn't mean she had to be happy about Dex randomly vanished from their bed in the middle of the night.

This time there was some benefit. Alexis couldn't begin to imagine Dex's reaction to her waking from a dream calling Blake's name, but she knew he well enough to know it wouldn't be a favourable one. However this had better not be something of a new trend forming. Nobody left Alexis Colby's bed, not willingly at least, not until Alexis decided they did anyway after all she did have certain standards to keep up. So for tonight Dex got a free pass but if Alexis woke again to a cold empty bed…Well then her and a certain Mr Dexter might be having a few words after all.

Dex Dexter couldn't sleep.

He had tried but his mind just refused to quieten down and let him. So instead of tossing and turning half the night and keeping Alexis from getting a good nights rest Dex had slipped out of their bed. Pressing a kiss to her shoulder Dex watched as Alexis muttered something under her breath and turned onto her side away from him, allowing Dex to sneak out of the bedroom undetected.

At first he had tried going to the living room, turning on the television he kept the volume low. Yet even the repetitive infomercials that seemed to play continuously at this time of night, their presenters ridiculous over the top enthusiasm about an un-buntable knives and miracle stain removers, couldn't distract him. So Dex had made his way outside, his feet finding their way automatically out to the stables. At least out here with the slight brush of the wind on his face and muffled sounds of the horses in their stalls Dex felt a little more grounded.

As a boy when he had been trying to deal with his grief over his mothers death Dex had struggled to find a way to cope. Back then it had been his grandfather who had taken him under his wing, involving him with the running of the ranch, the backbreaking cattle driving. On horse back with the sun beating down on him and the fresh air in his lungs Dex had began to find a way to heal.

And in a way it was the same sense of closure he found himself needing now.

Dex had thought himself over this…this grief.

All his life he had struggled with the complicated relationship he had with his father. One moment Sam Dexter's darling boy and the next seemingly abandoned for his little sister, something which in light of his father's letter finally made some sense. No matter how much Sam might have loved him, raising another man's child could in no way compare with finally having your own.

In some ways it made that long held pain ease a little, it would always be there but at least now Dex had a reason that made sense. Something other than the fact that it was somehow something Dex had done wrong to ruin things…Dex at least now knew this wasn't his fault, save being born a bastard and fostered off on to another man to raise.

And yet there were so many unanswered questions and it was those questions that were driving him crazy.

How could his mother have done something like this, an affair with another man, especially after Sam had returned from the war? If it had been during that at least might have made some sense but after he had returned!

Shaking his head Dex tried to battle down those demons, to counter the sudden anger towards his mother that surged up inside him. What on earth was she thinking; didn't she even consider the consequences?

And that led on to one thought that Dex had been consciously avoiding since this whole mess began.

His father…

The man who had dallied with his mother and then left Sam Dexter to pick up the pieces and there was no doubt in his mind now that must have been what had happened. Sam had loved him the best he could and despite their fallings out and eventually estrangement Dex now had a new appreciation for what the man had really been though.

So if Dex felt anger and hurt towards his mother that was nothing to the rage that was building towards who ever sired him. And when he found out who…

"Dexter!"

Whirling round at his surprise company Dex reacted with his years of training, barely restrained his fist from flying into Jackson's face.

"Whoa there Dexter I'm not one of you many admirers no need to get into the heavy stuff." Jackson's voice was light and teasing and that just made Dex want to punch him more.

"I am not in the mood Jackson…"

"Well I wasn't offering Dexter." Jackson cut in his blue eyes playful. "Not that I am questioning your sex appeal but frankly you're not really my type, wrong equipment."

Gritting his teeth Dex struggled between just laying out the cocky stud manager for being so damn perky at this ungodly hour in the morning or walking away. In the end common sense won out, he really didn't need to deal with Alexis bitching at him about hurting the help; so Dex turned to stalk back to the house not expecting Jackson to ignore the blatant hint and fall into step beside him.

"Trouble sleeping?"

"None of your damn business." Dex grunted back, not bothering to hold the backdoor open for Jackson, letting it swing back hoping it caught the other man in his smirking face.

"Trouble in paradise then?"

Coming to a sudden halt Dex turned and prodded Jackson in the chest making the other man pull up suddenly. "That is definitely none of your bloody business." Dex grunted punctuating each word with a prod.

"Jeeze Dexter you are wound a little tight this evening." Jackson muttered stepping back and resisting the urge to rub his bruised chest, either Dexter didn't know his own strength of Jackson was really getting to him.

"Well I wonder why?" Dex sneered. "I go out to get a little fresh air and then this annoying little pest turns up out of nowhere and starts badgering me with personal questions…Why the hell were you up anyway? You better not be following me Jackson or I'll…"

"One of the mares was foaling so I stayed up with her; I'd just finished cleaning her up." Jackson answered simply trying his best to diffuse the ticking time bomb that stood before him. Dexter was wound so tight Jackson wouldn't be surprised if he gave himself a coronary the way he was carrying on.

"Oh. Right." Dex muttered pushing aside the flush of awkwardness. "Well then I think we'd both better just head back to bed it's late…"

"Or early depending on your perspective." Jackson couldn't resist adding, there was just something about pushing Dexter's buttons that buoyed his mood, perhaps it was the fact the man seemed to take life so seriously. Still Jackson had to concede that perhaps some of Dexter's foul mood was in part his own fault and the sooner he made amends the sooner Dexter would either punch him and get it over with or accept his apology and move on.

"Look Dexter I am sorry about earlier…Yesterday," Jackson corrected himself, "Back in LA; leaving you to deal with Carrington and Alexis. I feel bad knowing most of their fight was my fault…I should have known Blake would have reacted like that, that he would jump to conclusions…I mean first the stairwell then Fallon's bedroom, I can understand why he thought the worst, Alexis in her underwear…and you have no idea what I am talking about do you…" Jackson trailed off the blood draining from his face as Dex continued to stare at him blankly yet with a burning intensity to his gaze that threatened bodily harm.

"Nothing happened!" Jackson blustered as Dex took a threatening step forward. "I was just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time I swear it!" He added lifting his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Look I like Alexis but we are just friends ok?"

For a moment Dex's dark gaze bore in Jackson's cobalt blue weighing, assessing the other man's words. "Ok." Dex answered gruffly turning on his heel and heading back to the bedroom, his mind now swimming with this new perspective on the day before's events; leaving Jackson to wonder why the hell he had opened his mouth in the first place.

Staring up at the off white ceiling tiles it took a long moment for Blake Carrington to realise where he was. Yet before his sluggish memory returned the smell of strong chemical cleaners assaulted his nostrils, supplying the much needed information for him…Hospital…Or more precisely UCLA Medical Centre.

Groaning Blake raised his hand, running his fingers through his think silver hair which was mushed down on his head, wincing as the action pulled on the needle stuck into the back of his hand and the heart monitor clipped to his finger. A precaution the doctor had said, damn young whippersnapper Blake complained to himself, but then again what did you expect on a Sunday afternoon when anyone more senior would be enjoying the sunshine.

Well one thing was certain when Blake got back to Denver he would be getting a second opinion, these damn LA doctors and their hippy new age mentalities…Blake was certain his doctor was still wet behind the ears, how else could he have reached such a diagnosis…

"_Well it is good to see you awake finally, we have good news and bad news Mr…Carrington is it?"_

_Groaning as he lay back against the hospital trolley Blake could barely blink his eyes to glance over at the consultant. He felt like he had been run over by something large and bad tempered, making the hangover that he had woken up to only that morning seem like a picnic by comparison._

"_Doctor…"_

"_Hastings but I prefer George." The baby faced consultant replied and Blake immediately felt his irritation grow. He wasn't here to make small talk._

"_Where am I?"_

"_The UCLA medical centre, the ambulance crew that picked you up from your daughter's beach house in Malibu brought you straight here. You gave your family quite the scare Mr Carrington; however I am happy to report that you did not have a heart attack like we first suspected."_

"_But?" Blake paused frowning with the effort as he tried to piece together the few moments he could actually remember before blacking out. Arguing with Alexis, watching her leave with Dexter and the tightness in his chest, unable to breathe, the blind panic crawling up his throat…_

"_You suffered from a panic attack Mr Carrington." George answered simply watching as his patient screwed up his handsome face in disbelief. _

"_No…" The Doctors diagnosis seemed ridiculous to Blake who could now remember quite vividly the sensation of dying. "I am not crazy."_

"_Mr Carrington panic attacks have nothing to do with being unbalanced." George tried to reason with his obstinate patient. _

"_They are usually triggered by moment of fear or cumulative stress over time has been found to be correlated with panic attacks._ _More short term causes can be_ _Significant personal loss, including an emotional attachment to a romantic partner, life transitions, significant life change, stimulants such as caffeine or nicotine, can act as triggers…Or…" _

_And here the doctor paused glancing down at the clipboard he held in his hand as if confirming the numbers one more time. "Various substances both prescribed and unprescribed can cause panic attacks to develop as part of their withdrawal syndrome or rebound effect. Alcohol withdrawal for example."_

"_I am not an alcoholic." Blake spat back his dark eyes flashing dangerously._

_First this pipsqueak of a doctor had the nerve to pry into his personal life, why else would he mention the loss of a romantic partner, clearly Fallon had been gossiping; now he had the nerve to suggest Blake was going through withdrawal._

"_I cannot comment on that Mr Carrington however your blood alcohol levels were tested as a matter of course when you were admitted and they were significantly high..."_

"_I was at a party last night doctor and yes I overindulged, the last time I checked that wasn't a crime." Blake cut the doctor off before he could begin yet another sermon. Blake didn't need to know anymore triggers for this ridiculous disorder, he certainly hadn't had a panic attack no matter what this doctor seemed to think. The sooner he got out of here and back to Denver and got checked over by a proper doctor the better; god knows what these LA doctors would have missed._

"_When can I leave?"_

"_I suggest that you remain here overnight, providing the rest of your blood work comes back clear I see no reason why you cannot be discharged in the morning. We'll use the night to get you rehydrated…"_

"Morning Daddy." Fallon's hesitant and forcibly cheerful voice jarred Blake back to the present and he blinked surprised to now see daylight flooding the room, god knows just how long he had been day dreaming.

"I brought you come coffee." Fallon added her smile strained when her father seemed to stare through her for a moment. "Krystle is just with the doctor sorting out your discharge papers, she has a change of clothes."

Grunting his acknowledgement Blake accepted the cardboard cup of coffee, relieved when it tasted smooth and mellow and not at all like the usual hospital swill. As if reading his mind Fallon's smile mellowed slightly looking far more genuine.

"I got it from one of the coffee stands outside and smuggled it in." She added by way of explanation before a look of concern made its way on to her face. "Daddy are you sure you're well enough to be discharged…"

"I am perfectly capable Fallon." Blake replied, not using his usual answer, no one would believe him if he claimed to be 'fine' after all. "I just want to get out of here and forget this unfortunate incident ever happened, I am sure I can trust your discretion in this." Blake added catching his daughter's gaze and holding it, the rest of the conversation passing without words.

"I did as you requested you mean." Fallon answered somewhat snippily.

"Although I cannot understand why you don't want her to know." Fallon added her two cents, thinking that perhaps her father was a little unbalanced after all. Nothing would have Alexis back faster and out of Dex's arms than knowing that Blake was sick but her father wouldn't hear of it. In fact that had been the first thing out of his mouth the night before when the doctors had finally let them into visit, Alexis was not to be informed of this under any circumstances.

Fallon had abided by her father's request, grudgingly, and her mother had returned to Denver oblivious of what she had left behind in LA. Yet her father's decision still left Fallon confused…Unless…

"Daddy it's not because it was a pani…"

"That is enough Fallon." Blake insisted his dark eyes both determined and yet Fallon could make out an equal measure of desperation in them, all but confirming her suspicion.

Blake Carrington was ashamed and the last person in the world he wanted finding out that he had mistaken a panic attack for a cardiac arrest was Alexis Colby!

"So this is where you have been hiding."

Sighing as he set down his second cup of coffee Dex didn't need to turn to identify the new arrival, he would recognise that voice and more importantly the somewhat pissed off tone in that voice anywhere.

"I wasn't hiding anywhere, I couldn't sleep." Dex grunted doing little to mask his own annoyance as he watched a suited and coiffed Alexis take her place at the breakfast table her emerald eyes dissecting him piece by piece and Dex shifted uncomfortably, feeling his headache grow in proportion.

"That I worked out for myself when I woke to an empty bed." Alexis retorted sharply watching closely as Dex avoided her gaze, his eyes firmly locked on the tablecloth, which although quite beautiful and edged with lace from Bruges wasn't worthy of that amount of attention.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." Dex's answer was brief and to the point, right now he did not want to talk about anything. There were far too many conflicting thoughts going around his head that Dex wasn't certain if he started talking just what would end up coming out.

"Well you are in a good mood." Alexis grunted taking a sip of her coffee; unable to just leave it alone, like a scab she couldn't help but pick at even knowing it was a bad idea…

"Dex if this about yesterday…If you are trying to punish me for whatever you think happened between Blake and I?"

"Blake or Jackson?" Dex grunted his dark flickering up and pining Alexis in place watching as her face flushed either with anger or guilt. "And just how did you end up in your underwear?"

"That was simply a misunderstanding on Blake's part. There is nothing going on between Jackson and I, unlike some I don't make it a habit to sleep with my daughter's lovers." Alexis answered her tone icy as she added. "Blake has always let his jealousy rule him but I expected better of you…"

"Why because unlike Carrington I know the real you Alexis?" Dex hissed rubbing his forehead, the lack of sleep and stress were pushing him closer to the edge, closer to saying something he would really regret. "Look I really don't want to talk about this now."

"Fine." Alexis retorted coolly her accent so clipped it could chip glass.

"Fine." Dex echoed his gaze returning to glaring at the tablecloth.

It was into this heavy atmosphere that Patrick's replacement had to walk, his somewhat familiar face now slightly more lined with age blanched at the tense air; yet he was familiar enough with Alexis Colby to know when to make his presence known. He would certainly be earning every dollar of the ridiculous salary Mrs Colby had tempted him with in order to leave his last employers, a nice old couple but there was some sort of pride in being able to not only survive but excel in dealing with a demanding employer such as Alexis Colby.

Hearing her newest staff member clear his throat Alexis lifted her gaze from her coffee cup. "Yes Lin?"

"Telephone call for you Mrs Colby, Mr Jeffrey calling from Australia." Lin answered politely. "Would you like it putting through here or to your study?"

For a moment Alexis paused before answering, yet when Dex didn't even seem to notice she replied. "Here will be fine."

Nodding sharply Lin left the couple to it and a moment later the phone set on the sideboard began to ring.

"Good Morning Jeff."

"That's debatable; some of us haven't been to bed yet Alexis." Jeff's familiar but tired sounding voice echoed down the line.

"Having fun then I take it?" 

"If staying up all hours buttering up politicians and getting up at the crack of dawn to deal with bureaucrats is your idea of fun…" Jeff trailed off but Alexis was relieved to see her son-in-law still had a semblance of his sense of humour left. However his next words robbed Alexis of whatever good humour she had.

"Alexis I need you."

Raising an eyebrow at just how that could be misinterpreted if it was anyone other than Jeff, Alexis paused before answering letting Jeff babble on filling the awkward silence.

"…We were making progress, real progress, almost at the point of signing but then out of nowhere this state senator decides to make a whole campaign of the issue. It has really whipped up the political feeling against us and now people who were prepared to talk to us last week won't even let us in the front door…"

Cutting off Jeff before the poor boy broke down from frustration Alexis only had one question, "And I can help how?"

"A fresh face…A new approach." Jeff sigh could be heard half way across the world as if forced to compromise on something more than just his ego. "You always seem to get results Alexis, I know Blake and I might not approve of your methods sometimes but I have tried every above board measure I can think of."

"And we can't let Dobson win." Jeff added and for once Alexis was in complete agreement, letting Frank Dobson get his sticky dirty hands on Denver Carrington would not just be a blow to Jeff's ego it would be a direct attack on Alexis and by default Colby Co signalling to the world that she was loosing her grip.

First Blake…Then the damn horse race…Now Denver Carrington…No Alexis Colby had had enough of losing, perhaps it was time to stop playing by the rules.

Blake Carrington found himself staring at the report in his hand, certain that he had already read this one, as he rummaged his way through the haphazard pile that was all but overflowing his library desk. Already paperwork for the new mining corporation was piling up and Blake was quickly running out of places to store them.

Finally his hands closed on the document he was looking at, the start up costs for some of the new investment sites, yet as he pulled it free it sent the precarious pile of loose leaf papers tumbling down. Cursing Blake slapped the report he was holding down in his empty desk chair and sank to his knees to retrieve his errant paperwork.

This was why he had an office…why he hadn't run Denver Carrington from home.

It was time he and Dexter found office space in Denver and hired some staff to man it; the paperwork alone would mean secretaries. Then for all the contracts they would be handling a young legal whippersnapper; perhaps he should talk to Andrew and see if anyone in his firm wanted some commercial experience?

Hearing a tentative tap on the library door Blake inwardly cursed again before calling out hoping to stall his interloper, he really wasn't in the mood for another lecture about his health. Ever since his discharge from the hospital Krystle had been hovering; often with a soft, concerned and helpful expression on her face that irritated Blake beyond measure. He had already heard enough lectures about health eating and the dangers of drinking to last several lifetimes, and it was only by locking himself away in the library to attend to pressing business matters that Blake got any peace.

"I am a little busy Krystle can't it wait?"

"Even for your favourite Fallon?" His daughter's teasing voice broke the dark cloud that was hanging around Blake's head and he managed to crack a smile.

"As long as you're not planning on ordering me to take a nap?" Blake retorted his dark eyes twinkling with gallows humour.

"It wasn't on my to do list." Fallon replied yet her smile slipped a little as she caught sight of the mess surrounding her father's desk. "Haven't you heard of filing cabinets Daddy?"

Snorting Blake had to concede she had a point and yet somehow despite his pressing need there were more important considerations. "Oh believe me once upon a time I did indeed have a filing cabinet in this room, it lasted all of a day before it suddenly arrived by courier at Denver Carrington along with a note from your mother complaining that this "ugly monstrosity" clashed with her carefully constructed décor and either it moved out or she did."

Blake's smile broadened as Fallon laughed able to accurately picture her mother making such a statement. "Naturally I chose her… although at times…" Blake trailed off teasing his eyes twinkling. "Since then I haven't dared make any such furniture additions!"

"Well it needs to go somewhere; the floor is not a filing system." Fallon insisted. "When are you and Dex going to sort out some offices?

Shrugging Blake couldn't help the small frown that creased his brow at the mention of his erstwhile business partner. "I am supposed to be meeting him for lunch to discuss the proposals for the new developments; I'll mention it to him then."

Yet even thinking of Dexter inevitably led his thoughts to Alexis…and the still somewhat shocking revelation of her wedding plans.

Pushing that thought to the back of his mind Blake stomped on it some more for good measure. He had given his word not to interfere, to give Alexis space and not meddle in her relationship with Dexter. Something which if he were honest Blake was having limited success with. As long as they stayed physically apart he was able to cope but when they were thrown together by circumstance Blake struggled to keep a hold on his heart…or his temper.

He had been blind with rage seeing Alexis with that Hobbs fellow. It wasn't entirely Jackson's fault but for the irritating resemblance between him and a certain old flame of his ex-wife. Jackson may not physically look like Roger Grimes but personality and lifestyle wise they were like two peas in a pod. Gallivanting playboys the pair of them, using their little talent and natural good looks to bed any woman that took their fancy.

Seeing Alexis with Hobbs first in the stairwell with his greedy hands all over her, then walking in on the pair of them with Alexis wearing nothing but her white lacy underwear…It was like being thrown back twenty six years…His wife betraying him with another man…Even though Alexis was no longer 'his' Blake had only seen red.

Clenching his fist Blake was right back there in the moment Alexis's innocent protests contradicting the very evidence his eyes presented him with. His breathing catching as his heart clenched in his chest his beautiful wife's naked body and that man's hands all over her the desire to break him into a hundred pieces and…

"Daddy?" Fallon didn't even try to hide the concern in her voice.

Swallowing Blake forced those demons back down; suddenly tired he sank into the sofa. "I'm alright."

"No you're not." Fallon contradicted him simply before adding curiously. "Are you sure you are meeting Dex today? Only he left the ranch not long after Mummy did and the children and I got back; he took Jack with him and an overnight bag. I heard him say something to Lin about Wyoming…"

Scowling Blake slapped the report he all but crumpled down on the coffee table. Dammit this was exactly what he didn't need right now, as equal partners he needed Dexter co-signatory on any project before it could get underway. With Dex off to Wyoming on a jaunt for god knows how long Blake would have to wait before he could get the wheels in motion.

This whole thing stunk of Alexis's hand. Was this her way of punishing him for his actions? Or was this something else, a sign that there was trouble in paradise after all?

Alexis Colby hated flying commercial however as wonderful as her company jet was even it couldn't cover the sort of distance she needed this time…

Perhaps the time was right to upgrade?

No as frivolous as Alexis often was with her millions even she realised that a she wouldn't use a jet of that size often enough to justify the expense of buying the damn thing and keeping it maintained.

So instead she found herself stepping onto a commercial airline for the first time years. First class of course. Yet even the prospect of unlimited champagne and a cordon bleu five-course meal couldn't shift the sour expression from her face as the polite but far too young airhostess personally guided her to her seat.

Honestly the girl couldn't be more than nineteen maybe twenty if she were a day, something that didn't inspire Alexis with confidence as clearly she must have been hired for her pretty face and trim figure rather than years of customer service. No doubt Alexis would be forced to wait whilst the younger woman lavished attention on some overweight millionaires who only got the preferential treatment because they were male and might be after picking up a pretty young thing!

Waiting until the young lady had secured her vanity case in the overhead compartment Alexis reluctantly sank into her window seat glaring at the so far unoccupied seat next to her. On arrival at the airport Alexis had tried, in vain, to purchase two seats just so she wouldn't have to suffer her way through companionship on the almost 18 hour flight.

Just the idea of being trapped next to some corpulent windbag of a businessman who either only wanted to drone on and on how much money he made or spent the trip trying to feel her up. Gone were the days of chance meetings with dashing European aristocracy, glamorous Hollywood movie stars or even the heirs to old moneyed fortunes. Now it was if anyone was let into first class.

Surely then should at least be a dress code or perhaps a weight limit…

Yet one quick glance across the aisle where a badly dressed gentleman was practically oozing over his arm rests dispelled that myth. Wincing in disgust Alexis tried to stop staring but he really was fascinating in a grotesque fashion, reminding her somewhat of Morgan Hess if he gained a hundred pounds in weight and actually managed to make any money.

Suddenly the object of her scrutiny turned his somewhat piggy eyes alighting on Alexis with obvious pleasure and mistaking her pointed gaze for interest he flashed her a smile that perhaps fifty years ago, a hundred pounds lighter and after a few glasses of champagne… if looked at in the right light…might have been considered dashing. However on this old fat man it merely looked sleazy and Alexis had to smother a shiver of disgust.

"G'day."

And he was broad Australian the final nail in what would be a rather large coffin.

"The names Harry McBride but to my friends and pretty ladies such as yourself I'm just plain old Hal!" The fat man offered in greeting along with his hand, which he extended across the aisle leaving it hovering for a moment until it became obvious Alexis had no intention of accepting that gesture or any others.

"Charmed I'm sure." Alexis replied frostily reaching into her purse for her lipstick and compact, checking and retouching her makeup hoping that the oaf would realise she was in no mood for entertaining him or his attempts to make conversation.

"You travelling for business or pleasure or both?"

Shutting her compact with a snap Alexis answered just as sharply. "Business."

"Care to make it both?" Hal asked teasingly as he swiped his thinning grey hair back, leaning across the aisle and shooting Alexis a wink that had her stomach churning.

"Actually…"

A pointed clearing of a throat saved Alexis from having to draw blood and Hal turned to glare at the intruder the somewhat ruddy colour vanishing from his cheeks.

"I believe this is my seat." A clipped deep voice insisted the accent ambiguous and yet oddly familiar.

Yet right now Alexis wouldn't have cared if the devil himself was about to sit next to her anything was better than the slimy Harry McBride. However as the handsome well built man slid into the seat beside her, his dark hair neatly slicked back as his equally dark eyes flickered up and met Alexis's own and seemed to stare right into her. Alexis was surprised to feel a flash of something, visceral attraction at its most basic.

For a moment the darkly handsome man met and held her gaze and there seemed to be a moment of heat and connection and then just as suddenly he broke it; retrieving a sheaf of paperwork from his briefcase before stowing it overhead and taking his seat without sparing Alexis a second glance.

And for some ridiculous reason Alexis found that irritated her even more than even old Hal could manage.

Driving up the long familiar drive Dex watched his childhood slowly came into view. Slowing down he savoured the memories as they assaulted him. He could almost see his younger self careering across the forecourt his faithful hound Duke trailing after him as the pair avoided a scolding for trekking mud into the house. Once upon a time he had been very happy here and Dex felt a flush of shame and anger at the way he had left the last time.

True Marin had been spoiling for a fight and Dex had been justifiably hurt by Sam's ultimatum but Dex hadn't needed to oblige her. He was elder brother after all and other than Jack Marin was his only remaining blood relative…That he knew of…Dex added mentally feeling his barely buried fury rear its head once more.

God knows how many other women this rake who had fathered him had taken advantage of…how many other half siblings Dex actually had out there?

Well there was nothing he could do about them, but there was at least one person out there who was family, Marin for all her faults was still his sister through their mother and Dex found himself clinging to that certainty probably a little more than was healthy. God knows what he was expecting.

For his baby sister to welcome him with open arms certainly wasn't high on the cards considering the way they had left things between them. Her using his relationship with Alexis as a focus for her grief and anger and he cruelly abandoning her to deal with the fallout from their father's death alone. From the brief glance at the Dexter International stock figures which had dipped each month since Sam's death and Dex's departure as CEO Dex couldn't imagine she was having and easy time of it.

So perhaps it was foolish and impulsive to simply pick up his son and drive across state on a whim. Yet when Alexis had coolly announced she was off to Australia for an unknown length of time Dex had found himself unable to stomach staying at the ranch on his own…

Well not on his own entirely and perhaps that was more the problem. Dex wasn't certain in the present circumstances how long his strained restraint would last having to see Jackson's smirking face over the breakfast table or enduring Fallon's less than subtle insinuations about the unfitness of his relationship with her mother.

He had found himself craving the certainty and sense of reassurance and clarity of thought that only wide Wyoming skies and crisp air could provide. And if his sister could help fill in some of the blanks, she being so close to Sam, surely he had confided in her? Dex didn't want the first time he learnt of his natural father to be at the hands of blackmailer…

Realising he had been sitting in his car the engine still running despite having parked Dex swallowed down his nerves, turning off the engine he quickly retrieved a sleeping Jack and carryall with the necessities for a few days stay. Then girding his courage he approached the house, however before he had stepped foot on the porch the front door opened and Dex was suddenly face to face with a familiar pair of dark eyes, so similar to his own that Dex felt a sudden lurch for home.

"Well look what the cat dragged in." Marin's voice was drawling and full of sarcasm yet there was a vulnerable look in her eyes that gave Dex strength courage and hope. "What the hell do you think you are doing here Dex?"

"I came to visit with my sister is that suddenly a crime?" Dex replied softly. "I missed you Marin and…I need to apologise for the way we left things…I want to try and fix things between us." Dex added watching as Marin hesitated clearly torn between suspicion and something deeper. "Can you really look me in the eye and tell me you don't feel the same?"

Flipping the pages of her book Alexis tried to concentrate on Toffler's words. Recently Alexis had struggled to find time to fit in any reading and so a long flight really should have been a perfect opportunity to bone up on the latest business strategies. However Alexis couldn't help that her gaze flickered to her silent companion, there was just something about him…Alexis couldn't shake off the feeling that they must have met before…

Maybe at a conference…Or perhaps a party?

Mr Mystery certainly didn't have an American accent so perhaps it had been years ago when she was still in Europe or South America. Normally Alexis was good with names and faces so perhaps it was simply the passage of time that had dulled her memory.

Squinting over the edge of her book Alexis took in his broad yet trim frame, the clearly Saville Row suit cut to fit him perfectly in a conservative deep blue pinstripe. His light blue shirt emphasised his tan and the dark glossiness of his thick swept back hair, which had begun to show the hint of gray at the temples. All in all he was an attractive picture, poised and handsome in an unconventional sense, but it was the presence of the man that really shook Alexis…

Confidence, pride with more than a hint of arrogance, yet there seemed to be enough substance to justify it…Somewhat similar to herself…Alexis mentally added.

"Are you planning on staring at me for the entire flight?"

Startled by the sudden question Alexis felt a sudden flush of embarrassed heat flood her cheeks, something that she hid behind her book until she regained her equilibrium.

"There is no use pretending to read now…" This time there seemed to be at least a hint of amusement in her companion's voice and Alexis dropped her book lifting a perfectly sculpted eyebrow questioningly bluffing.

"Staring I think you must have made a mistake Mr…"

"My apologies then I must have been mistaken," the younger man offered scoffing in disbelief.

"Well if it wasn't me you were staring at perhaps it was the gentleman across the aisle after all you did seem to be getting along earlier…Perhaps I should offer to swap? I wouldn't want to come in between true love." He added sarcastically finally lifting those dark eyes from the paperwork in front of him and fixing Alexis with a derisive gaze.

"No thank you." Alexis reply was equally as disdainful as she met and held his gaze, rising to the challenge she saw in his eyes.

Their staring contest only broken a moment later when the young pretty stewardess sudden appeared pushing a trolley, her blue eyes clearly fixed on Alexis's companion as asked, "Champagne?"

Nodding Mr Mystery barely glanced at the stewardess before turning his attention to the bottle and scowling in distaste. "But not that commercial swill, bring us a bottle of Dom Perignon '75 or '79 if you don't have a bottle of the '75."

Impressed despite herself Alexis couldn't help but be flattered as her companion all but completely ignored the far younger woman competing for his attention. "Well you at least know your champagne."

"I know many things…I may even hazard a guess as to why the legendary Alexis Colby is heading down under…Hmmmm something to do with the Denver Carrington suit?"

"Good news still travels fast I see." Alexis drawled sarcastically earning her a tight smirk from her companion.

"Oh there is nothing people like gossiping about more than other people's misfortune!" He replied accepting the two glasses of champagne from the now slightly frosty stewardess. "Leave the bottle." Then passing one glass to Alexis her companion took a sip, sighing in pleasure before continuing.

"I for one hope you find a way to overcome this little hurdle, otherwise it sets a dangerous precedent; the last thing big business needs is for politicians to think they can secure quick wins by feeding us to the masses."

"And you would know all about that Mr…What exactly do you do?" Alexis asked intrigued by the man's arrogant posturing, did he actually have the goods to back it up?

"That's a rather predictable and dull question and not one I would expect from Alexis Colby…"

"Well colour me curious." Alexis retorted ignoring the less than subtle dig at her expense, as attractive as her companion was there was something decidedly evasive about him and it put Alexis slightly on alert.

"I have many interests, a little stock here and little there, but for the most part I am a consultant…a trouble-shooter…I find people in trouble and I help them…if it suits me…oh and for a price of my choosing." Her companion answered vaguely taking another sip of champagne his darks eyes glinting mockingly as they locked with Alexis's over the rim of his glass.

Sinking back into her chair her suspicions all but confirmed that this meeting was not the chance encounter it had first appeared Alexis couldn't help but be intrigued; this man had gone through a lot of trouble to arrange this. "And just how much will it cost me…Mr?"

Sighing as if finally capitulating Alexis's dark haired companion leant forward, a whiff of his expensive cologne inveigling Alexis's senses.

"Oh I don't know…." He replied teasingly "How about dinner? The two of us in my suite?"

Snorting Alexis took another sip of her champagne. "You'll have to convince me you have something worth my time first I am not here to do anyone else favours, Mr…?" And this time there was no mistaking the question at the name, Alexis was through playing games.

Sighing as he reached out for the champagne bottle, topping up both their glasses, her companion paused before replying. "My name is Ethan Hailsworth Mrs Colby, and I do believe you're the one who owes me a favour!"

Krystle Carrington took a deep breath before rising her hand to knock on the library door, it was only the tugging on her skirt as a pleading Krystina gazed hopefully up at her mother that had Krystle braving Blake's bad mood.

"Come in." Blake finally replied but his voice sounded weary and hardly enthusiastic.

Pushing the door open Krystle ushered Krystina in before her, hoping that at least their daughter's presence might mean Blake would remember to keep a civil tongue in his head and not accuse her of nagging and crowding him again. Krystle couldn't pretend that Blake's hostility hadn't hurt her feelings; she knew Blake had always been defensive when it came to his health, Blake hated feeling vulnerable but that was no excuse for his recent behaviour. She was only trying to take care of him, why couldn't Blake let her?

"Daddy its almost dinner time." Krystina's bright voice managed to break Krystle's musing and she was relieved to see Blake actually look up from his paperwork and smile, but his handsome face looked tired and Krystle couldn't help the lurch of her heart in concern.

"Is it really sweetheart?" Blake answered setting down what had to have been the hundredth financial statement and glancing at his watch, surprised himself when the clock face did indeed show seven.

Where had the day gone? Blake still had a tonne of work left and considering he had that doctors appointment tomorrow that Krystle had nagged him into that was all the more work he had to do tonight in order to play catch up.

"Oh Krystina I don't know if I will be able to join you and Mummy for dinner tonight I still have a lot of work to get through…"

"But Daddy you have to! Fallon and LB, Lauren and Danny are coming and you promised!" Krystina insisted stamping her foot her blue eyes flashing as a pout formed on her lips and for a moment Blake had to stifle a chuckle at the sudden resemblance between another of his children.

"Krystina don't be so rude." Krystle gasped unable to contain her shock at such a display from her young daughter.

"No Krystle it is alright…I am sorry Krystina you are right I did promise." Blake insisted setting down his work and opening his arms to his little girl who immediately took him up on the invitation and scrambled onto her father's lap.

"Am I forgiven?" Blake asked after hugging Krystina tightly, his amusement growing as his daughter seriously considered the question; her young face creased in a frown.

Then after much deliberation Krystina pronounced her decision, "Only if you promise to take me riding this weekend."

Laughing at his daughter's hardball negotiating skills Blake was forced to concede. "Well since I simply cannot have you angry with me I had better agree."

Nodding as if temporarily satisfied Krystina slid from Blake's lap tugging her father behind her for good measure. "And we can ride over to Colby Acres to see LB and Lauren and Danny."

"Krystina that is a long way for such a little girl and some of that riding isn't the easiest…" Krystle began unable to keep her maternal concern from her voice.

"But Mummy Daddy promised to take me riding and that's where I want to go. I want to see everyone and Mr Kensington and Alexis and perhaps we can have tea and cake like a proper tea party!"

"Now Krystina your Mummy is right that is too long to ride over there…"

"But Daddy…."

"Besides Alexis isn't even at the ranch at the moment." Blake added cutting off his daughter's whine. "Fallon told me she left this morning on some business."

Huffing and far from mollified by such an answer Krystina bit her tongue knowing this was one argument she wasn't going to win right now…but perhaps if she waited until she had Daddy to herself…

Pleased with her plan Krystina allowed her father to pull her into another hug before tugging him towards the door of the library.

First she would get Daddy into dinner and then after he had had a few drinks and was tucking her into bed without Mummy Krystina would get him to promise to take her over to the ranch.

For the second night in a row Dex Dexter couldn't sleep, yet this time it wasn't just his turbulent thoughts and emotions keeping him awake but also the cold empty space to his left where normally Alexis's warm body would lay. Clearly he had gotten so used to her presence in bed next to him that now sleeping apart felt wrong and unnatural.

It had been like that during their brief marriage, Dex had hated being kicked to the metaphorical 'sofa' and had tossed and turned most of the nights he had been forced into the spare room. Perhaps sleep deprivation had been one of many reasons why Dex had always been the first to capitulate during their frequent arguments, anything to get back on Alexis's good side and back into their bed.

The bed he was in know shouldn't have felt so alien. It had been his for longer than the one at the ranch and yet as he lay there in his old room the moonlight streaming in through the open curtains, casting the familiar room in unfamiliar angles, Dex felt like an intruder in his own home.

Perhaps it was because of the way he had left this house the last time?

Storming out before your own sister could throw you out after your fathers will reading was not exactly the best atmosphere to walk back into. It certainly hadn't been comfortable between Marin and him during dinner. In fact there had been very little conversation at all, what little small talk about Jack and Aunt Josephine and the few mutual friends had been quickly exhausted.

Sitting at the long dining room table with the weight of everything left unsaid between them and the family ghosts weighing on his mind Dex hadn't been able to bring up the very subject that had driven him here. Somehow Dex found himself doubting that Marin would know anything to actual use. He knew his younger sister, had she known the truth there was no way she would have held back throwing that in his face when she had been angry with him.

Perhaps his spontaneous trip had all been for nothing?

It hadn't taken long before the awkward silences had gotten to him and Dex had begged off claiming to be exhausted after dinner even Marin had seemed relieved to be free of the awkward situation. Besides Dex really was tired. Yet all that was for naught if Dex couldn't actually sleep!

Flinging back the covers Dex decided that if he couldn't sleep at least he could look around his Sam's room for some more clues at to his natural father's identity. If the man turned out to be some sort of a bum Dex wanted to be forewarned. Not that it was likely that now after Sam's death the man might come out of the woodwork of his own accord. Yet Dex couldn't shake the feeling that his blackmailer might double cross him, taking both his money and exposing the Dexter's secret shame to the world.

That his father might actually be a might actually be a man of means and standing, from a respectable background, Dex refused to consider.

No he had to be a bum…An opportunistic scoundrel!

No man that he would want to claim kinship with fooled around with another man's wife, impregnating her and abandoning both her and the child to the mercy of her husband.

Slipping along the hallway Dex did his best to remain quiet, employing his years of military training and his youthful tendency of sneaking out of and back into the house, and so knowing where each of the creaking floorboards were located. Finally he made it into his Fa…Sam's bedroom.

Pushing open the door Dex swallowed slightly as everything was still as he remembered. Nothing had been moved. There was even a open novel on the bedside table the place where its owner had last sat it down now creased into the paperback binding. It was almost as if Sam Dexter was simply on a business trip, expected to return anytime.

Sliding inside the tomblike room Dex almost felt like he was desecrating a shrine. Yet his desperation for answered fixed his resolve and Dex moved to systematically search the room for answers.

Starting with the bedside table he pulled open the drawer, careful to avoid the seemingly accusing stare of a silver framed photograph of his 'parents' in their younger days. A newly married Sam Dexter stared out of the frame and his gaze seemed to bore into Dex's cheek, Sam's happy smiling face as he wrapped an arm around his pretty young bride, a clear contrast to Dex's inner turmoil.

That Mavis Dexter seemed as clearly smitten with her handsome groom as he was with her made it even harder to believe that just two short years later she would have betrayed her husband in the worst possible way.

Rummaging through odd knickknacks Dex fingers stopped when they came on a pile of old letters tied together with a ribbon. Pulling them out he was surprised by the numerous stamp marks on the tatty envelopes; clearly the letters had often been forwarded before reaching their intended destination.

Fumbling with the first one Dex pulled it out quickly realising that he was reading a love letter between his parents…no between his mother and Sam…Dex refused to allow himself the comfort of thinking of Sam Dexter as his father, the man had done his best by him but when it came down to the end the contents of the man's will had proven that he truly didn't consider Dex to be his son.

It was a bitter pill to swallow but at least now Dex had a reason that made sense, he wasn't really a Dexter, and Dexter International was the Dexter legacy, it needed to stay in the family; to stay with Marin. Sam had known when he had issued the ultimatum how Dex would react. He had known Dex would choose Alexis and it had been a way to save face, to not reveal the truth about his paternity in front of an audience and in a twisted way it was probably Sam's way of protecting him still.

"What do you think you are doing?"

Freezing at the question Dex cursed himself and his dulled senses for not even noticing the bedroom door swing open and his midnight visitor arrive.

"I was just looking." Dex answered softly raising his gaze to stare into his sister's suspicious gaze. "I couldn't sleep…" 

"And that gave you the right to come snooping?" Marin retorted sharply her dark eyes narrowing on her older brother as he squirmed under her gaze. There was more to this than Dex was saying and Marin knew it.

"I wasn't snooping…"

"What else would you call creeping about other people's rooms in the middle of the night?"

Sighing Dex set the letters back into the drawer, closing it with a slam. "I don't think Dad would mind Marin. I wasn't doing any harm." He added wincing slightly on the honorific, somehow it seemed both wrong and right to call Sam Dexter father but right now Dex felt so confused he wasn't sure which feeling was stronger.

"Bullshit!" Marin spat back. "I knew from the moment you turned up here there was a reason Dex, you never spontaneously visited because you missed me before, hell I think you would have been happier sometimes if you never had a sister. You're here snooping for evidence…you're trying to overturn Dad's will, just admit it Dex you want to challenge his decision to leave me Dexter International…"

"No!" Dex snapped surprising his sister with his vehemence.

"Oh so you think I am doing a good job?" Marin retorted sarcastically rolling her eyes.

"No I think you are doing a piss poor job." Dex answered honestly. "But Dexter International isn't my problem anymore its yours and you can keep running it into the ground if you want without any interference from me!"

"Oh and you expect me to believe that Dex?" Marin sneered. "You spent your entire life trying to take Dexter International out of Dad's hands, he knew, hell the whole family knew that you and Grandfather thought him too weak to run the company. Even when he was sick the first time you only came back to take over the company, you didn't stay and help with Dad no that was left to me…Hell it wasn't like I had my own life, my own dreams! No I had to give up my future whilst you stole Dad's company out from under him. So forgive me if I think you won't just give up on it so easily."

Sinking back on to his heels Dex opened his mouth to refute his sisters accusations, he had been there, he had…hadn't he…

Yet the more he thought about it the more Dex had to admit his visits had been fleeting at best, to resolve whatever crisis demanded his presence and no more than that…Not once had he ever thought of his sister's dreams, or that her many acts of wanton destruction and rebellion were signs of a trapped frustrated soul acting out in the only way she could; crying out for help.

Help which he had failed to provide.

Not only had he failed as a son and a husband but he had failed as a brother as well.

"I'm sorry."

Scoffing Marin shook her long brown hair. "Yeah right sure you are Dex…What do you really want here…Why are you really here?"

"I wanted to make things better between us…" Dex began only to stop at the mocking look in his baby sisters face.

"Pull the other one Dex it has bells on it. You never cared about making things better before so why should now be any different?" Marin muttered before adding sarcastically. "Oh except for the fact I know own Dexter International which is the only thing other than your whore and grandfather that you have ever given a damn about! Well you can't have it Dex, I'll fight you through the courts if I have to and…"

"I am not here for the damn company! I'm being blackmailed Marin and I thought I might find the answers I need here!" Dex snapped shocking his sister to temporary silence.

"What answers…Why are you being blackmailed?" Marin asked after finally finding her voice, her dark eyes still suspicious even as her brother seemed to deflate before her eyes.

Sighing Dex ran his hands through his hair, staring down at the floor, unable to meet Marin's gaze as he answered gruffly. "Sam Dexter wasn't my father."

The sharp ringing of the telephone raised Blake Carrington from his sleep and grunting Blake rolled over his empty bed, vocally cursing who the hell was ringing him at such a time. Still the rush of adrenaline coursed through him as he fumbled for the receiver, something must have happened…

Perhaps a cave in or someone in the family was in trouble?

After all very few people were trusted with the number for his private line and Gerard wouldn't put through a call to the master suite unless the call really was urgent.

Finally lifting the receiver to his ear Blake frowned as the crackle of a long distance call cracked in his ear.

"Hello?" He grunted his frown growing as there was no obvious reply just more crackling.

"Hello is there someone there?" Blake demanded his anger growing as there was still no answer only the distant sound of breathing muffled somewhat by the static.

Huffing what was clearly some sort of prank Blake didn't bother to contain his annoyance. It hadn't taken him ages to fall off to sleep, the worries of the new company and the associated problems had gone around and around in his head until completely exhausted he had finally dropped off. And now that precious sleep had been disturbed by some prankster with nothing better to do.

"I don't care how you got this number but don't call here again!" Blake barked down the phone. "Or I swear I will pay someone to track you down and haul you before the relevant authorities!"

Lifting the receiver away from his ear Blake slammed it down into the cradle cutting off the call but not before at the last second his ears caught the distinctive sound of barely muffled crying. Trying to shrug off the feeling that perhaps he had been a little hasty Blake tried to console himself with the thought that if it really was important they would phone back and that surely if it were someone he knew they would have spoken up?

Turning back onto his side Blake tugged the duvet back over him shoulder, as his body shivered involuntarily even though the room was well heated and he was far from cold. Clenching his fist as he tried to force himself to relax Blake slid his hand under the pillow his fingers only unclenching when they came into contact with familiar cotton wool mix.

Blake knew it was foolish but he even he couldn't deny that he found it easier to relax whilst holding one and if the household staff thought it was odd keeping a pair of socks under your pillow Blake couldn't bring himself to care. It was all he had.

Perhaps if he hadn't been so hasty insisting that Fallon pack everything and Gerard rid the house of all traces of Alexis's residence then he might have had something more romantic than a pair of monogrammed socks. Yet as this was all he had Blake often found himself slipping his hand under his pillow when he was able to sleep, trying to imagine Alexis's soft warm body cuddling up against him. The teasing touch of her curls against his cheek and the soft puff of her breathing on his chest, as Alexis snuggled into him as she drifted off to sleep.

It was at times like this that Blake couldn't keep up the pretence that he didn't miss Alexis. The sarcastic banter over breakfast, the way he didn't need to vocalise what he was feeling she just got it, got him, hell he even missed their fights and he definitely missed the sex. Going from being very active in the bedroom to celibate had thrown Blake completely and it was no wonder his sleeping patterns had suffered, since he had gotten used to falling into a blissfully satisfied and exhausted sleep.

Well he only had himself to blame and now it was too late…Fooling around with Jackson Hobbs…Marrying Dexter…

Shaking his head Blake forced down the feeling of panic that surged up. Alexis was probably just venting to hurt him, the fact that she was dallying with Jackson at all had to be a sign of problems between Alexis and Dexter. It wouldn't be the first time Alexis had turned to another man for comfort. Perhaps if he had actually listened to his young wife's tantrums when he had left her alone during their marriage and had done something then all of this mess could have been avoided?

That was something they really needed to work on…Alexis her fidelity issues and him his temper and propensity to blind jealousy that lead him to act...well act like a man possessed!

Blake couldn't even bring himself to think about some of the vile things had done when his temper had gotten the better of him. He had hurt some of the people dearest to him in the worse possible ways and even though he had thought he had made progress on controlling his temper it was often one step forward two steps back.

That was something he needed to work on if there was even a chance…Was there still a chance? If Alexis was serious about marrying Dexter of making her future with him…

Shaking aside that thought Blake refused to allow it to settle. Of course there was a chance! Blake insisted pushing aside the melancholy mood that was pulling him down.

After all even if Alexis claimed she was marrying Dexter they weren't married yet and anything could happen in the meantime…Besides it wasn't like their first marriage had lasted very long, nor had any of their reconciliations…Even if this time was somewhat longer than any time before…

No Blake just had to wait…

Eventually something would happen to bring him back together with Alexis and when that happened he wasn't going to let his jealousy drive them apart again, they would find a way back to one another and he would dedicate the rest of his life to making her happy again. He would find a way to make it up to Alexis for all the heartache between them. And he would deal with anyone who got in their way, until only death would part them.

Dex Dexter and his marriage plans be damned!

"That's not funny Dex." Marin hissed her dark eyes wide with disgust as she stared down at her brother, no matter how sincere he appeared this had to be a ploy, a sick new game to get her to lower her defences.

Well it wouldn't work!

As a little girl Marin had thought her elder brother could hang the stars. As soon as she could walk she had been toddling after him, begging for his attention in the too quiet house. True she had been her father's darling but even Sam Dexter had to travel for business on occasion and without a mother's love and care Marin had more often than not been left to the servants to raise.

The only other constants in her life had been austere and foreboding grandfather who seemed to have little time for a girl and her tall and often grumpy sibling who had grudgingly spent time with her. However desperate for love and affection Marin had lapped up what little attention she could get and other than her father once upon a time she had hung on Dex's every word.

Until he finished college and then ran away to the Marines and left her behind without even so much as a hug or a promise to write.

That was something an eleven year old Marin hadn't been able to forgive. Much like the adult Marin couldn't forgive her brother forcing her to carry the burden of their father's ill health for so long.

This new fantasy of Dex's was just a ploy to get him off the hook and unbalance her…Although…Marin had to admit if only to herself… if Dex wasn't really her father's son then it might explain why he had been so distant over the years…

Sighing once again Dex shook his head, he was tired, bone tired and he hadn't meant to blurt out the real reason for his visit but Marin had a way of pushing his buttons, she always managed to get under his skin. So he had snapped and blurted it out, revealed his terrible secret and his sister didn't even believe him.

"Yeah well the joke is on me then." Dex replied bitterly heaving himself up from the floor.

"Believe me I wish this was a hoax…the letter that Sam left me in his will I was so angry I threw it away without reading it, well someone found it and is using it to blackmail me. They sent me back the first part of the letter and then either I cough up five million dollars in the next few days or they will send the rest to some scandal sheet."

"Dex this isn't funny…"

"I am not laughing Marin!" Dex snapped.

"Look I came to visit because I thought I might be able to find some answers…If nothing else I can borrow something with Dad's handwriting on and get the letter checked out. I need to know if this true…Dammit it is driving me crazy, I can't sleep, I can't seem to concentrate on anything else…" Dex broke off his voice sounding choked to his own ears.

Perhaps…Just perhaps he was telling the truth?

Not that Marin wanted to consider the possibility but for his many faults being a liar was not normally one of them, in fact if anything Dex's greatest defect was that he was too honest…bluntly honest most of the time which had often been the cause of most of the families infighting as Dex had been unable to keep his opinion of the shortcomings of others to himself.

But that would mean Dex was telling the truth…or at least that he really thought that Sam Dexter was not his father…which meant their mother had…

"No Dex it can't be…Everyone always told me Mummy and Daddy adored each other…He was never the same after she died they all said…" Marin babbled like a small child grasping at fairytales to ward off the demons in the dark. "It has to be a hoax!"

"Maybe." Dex replied softly unwilling to shatter all of his sister's illusions.

"That's what we need to find out, and even if it is a hoax it won't matter if we can't prove it, either I pay or this goes public and the family name gets dragged through the mud." Dex added bitterly, five million dollars was a bitter pill to swallow but it would be a damn sight bitterer to be hounded and see his parents memory dragged out for the masses to sneer at, his mother's reputation ruined.

"I want to help."

Startled by the sudden and vehemence of Marin's offer Dex's head jerked up and his gaze locked with his younger sister. "I appreciate the gest…"

"No Dex I am helping!" Marin insisted cutting her brother off. "I am not a child anymore and this is my past too, my family name, I need to know the truth…whatever it might be." She added even as internally she warred at even accepting the possibility that their mother had been unfaithful.

"Look you either let me help you or I will try to find out by myself." Marin argued watching as Dex waivered. "And who knows what a mess I might get into if you aren't there to keep an eye on me." She added sarcastically relieved when Dex nodded capitulating to her stubbornness.

"Alright you can help but we do this my way!" Dex insisted, Marin may have forced her way into the situation but he was still the one in charge. This may effect Marin but it was his parentage they were talking about, and as such Dex was determined to be the one making the decisions.

And who knows maybe having Marin involved would turn out to be an advantage…There was always a first time for everything…

Alexis had never seen a man so pleased to see her as Jeff Colby when she stepped off of the plane at her destination, well a man she wasn't physically involved with…

Alexis could remember a somewhat warmer welcome from Rashid Ahmed when she had arrived once in Rome but Alexis could only hope Jeff hadn't followed her Arab lover's example, since she had no desire to get amorous with him on the back seat of a rose petal strewn limousine.

"Alexis I am so pleased you are here." Jeff greeted his mother-in-law warmly and Alexis accepted his hug before pulling back and glancing back over her shoulder, unable to resist checking if her enigmatic travelling companion had made it through customs.

But there was no sign of him…Yet…

That Ethan Hailsworth, the man she set a private detective on, should suddenly turn up in the seat next to her on a long flight was certainly not a coincidence. Alexis knew her luck was not that good. No Ethan had finally made an appearance because it suited him to do so. That it happened at a time when Alexis Colby might actually need help from someone…

Clearly Alexis was not the only one with spies in Colby Co.

"I have booked you into a suite at my hotel…" Jeff's voice drew Alexis back to her present company. "And I know you are probably jetlagged so I haven't got any meetings scheduled for this afternoon but there is this political soiree this evening that it would be good to attend…"

"For the International Development Fund?" Alexis questioned, Ethan had mentioned it casually in their conversation during the flight, and because it had been a throw away mention Alexis had taken note of it immediately; Ethan Hailsworth didn't strike Alexis as the man who just let things slip.

"Yes how did…"

"I have my sources Jeff, you know that." Alexis answered charmingly as she slipped her arm through Jeff's. The porter with her luggage had arrived and Jeff was trying to usher them out to the waiting car and there was still no sign of Ethan.

Damn that man was as slippery as an eel. Clearly he had given her the slip once again.

However now that he had finally made an appearance Alexis doubted Ethan was ready to completely vanish from her life just as quickly. Somehow Alexis was sure she would see Ethan Hailsworth again and the prospect caused her pulse to quicken. The problem was that it would be on his terms and Alexis Colby wasn't accustomed to waiting on any man, not even one as handsome and mysterious as Ethan Hailsworth.

Blake Carrington had never been a fan of examinations, as a boy he had never been able to sleep the night before one the thought of failure disturbing his rest, but medical examinations were by far and away the worst of the lot. Being prodded and poked like a specimen on a slab, being asked to breath and cough on demand like some ort of performing monkey and not having a clue what those little hmmmming noises the damn doctor seemed to make meant.

If an annual check-up hadn't been a compulsory part of his medical insurance Blake wouldn't have willingly ever subjected himself to a doctors prodding, wouldn't have set foot across the threshold unless at deaths door.

Fortunately however Blake had managed to build something like a rapport with the Carrington Family doctor who for a modest fee had always been happy in the past to make house calls, or even on occasion office calls.

That had been a trick of Alexis's during their first marriage, when Blake in his stubbornness had refused to stay home with a slight fever and escaped to the office to escape her fussing. Alexis had conspired with Blake's first secretary to schedule the doctor in under a false appointment. At the time Blake had been furious over his wife's duplicitous arrangement but subsequently over the years had often found it advantageous to arrange for the doctor to come to him at the office.

However this time it hadn't been Blake making the appointment but Krystle who probably hadn't even thought that it might be more convenient for the doctor to come to the mansion and fit around Blake's heavy schedule…

Although knowing Krystle she might have done it deliberately to get him away from his work for an hour.

Or longer than an hour…

Tutting Blake stilled his tapping fingers turning his watch over to glare at the minute hand that was steadily creeping around the face. His appointment had been for nine and it was now ten past. When he had arrived the new pretty blonde receptionist had explained regretfully that Dr Long was running a little late and would he mind taking a seat and waiting.

Ten minutes was more than a little late in Blake Carrington's book, if he ran Denver Carrington like this then…

Except that he didn't run Denver Carrington anymore.

The sharp reminder was a slap in the face, and still hurt as much as it had that first morning when he had gotten up to dress for the office before realising he had no office to go to anymore.

Alexis owned his shares and Jeff was CEO and Blake Carrington was nothing more than a relic, his name still on the door more a matter of nostalgia than anything else. Unless by some miracle he managed to get this mining corporation up and running and turned his forty million investment into a hundred and fifty million dollars in the next nine months.

Something he wasn't going to achieve he was forced to sit around wasting time waiting for doctors to actually get around to seeing their patients. After all it wasn't like he had a partner who was pulling his weight, right now the burden of making this new venture a success rested firmly and heavily on Blake's broad shoulders.

Glaring at his watch Blake's anger only bubbled harder as the long hand ticked around to quarter past…

This was pointless Blake knew there was nothing wrong with him. The events of LA had been a freak aberration, something to be gotten over and forgotten about. Besides it wasn't as if Blake didn't know what Dr Long would tell him. It was the same advice he gave him every year for his check up. Drink less, exercise more; take more time to relax and unwind and eat a balanced diet. It was hardly rocket science.

In fact there was little real point in him staying to hear it. Blake had only agreed to the appointment in the first place to stop Krystle from nagging him. Well he had come just like he said he would, it was hardly his fault that the doctor couldn't keep his appointments to time and Blake had other places to be. As long as Krystle thought he actually seen the doctor she might consent to leaving him alone.

His mind made up Blake stood and picked up his coat, ignoring the secretary's promises that the doctor really wouldn't be much longer, Blake flashed her a reassuring smile.

"It's fine I really don't need to trouble Dr Long…" 

"I can reschedule you another appointment now…" The young girl insisted opening the large book and flicking through the pages. "Oh perhaps you would prefer to let your wife make the appointment?"

"I don't have a wife." Blake snapped, slightly regretful when the young lady appeared chastened. "And I am quite capable of deciding for myself whether I need to see the doctor." He added in a softer tone yet still with an undertone of steel.

Then without a glance back Blake exited the waiting room, his step a lot lighter than when he had arrived. After all he really did feel fine, and what was the worst that could happen?

For once Krystle Carrington was grateful for the excuse to leave the mansion that had been her home, on and off for the last ten years. Krystina was now back at school, and Krystle had dropped her off herself earlier that morning, wanting to get a first glance at the establishment Alexis had selected for Krystle's child.

It was a large imposing brick building and Krystle wanted to hate it on sight…but the students seemed bright and excited about returning…Krystina herself had scampered off to meet her friends with barely a backward glance. Krystle on the other hand had sat staring after her for a good few minutes, doing her best to ignore the curious glances of the other children and their mothers…

When the girls were dropped off by their mothers that was…

Most of them seemed to delivered to the school gates by limousine or town car. The jeep Krystle had borrowed from the garage for her forward trip to Colby Stud stood out a little in the crowd, so was it any wonder Krystina had scampered out of the door before the car had properly stopped not even pausing to give her mother a goodbye kiss.

Krystina was growing up, she was no longer a baby who needed her mother's constant attention, she knew her own mind, and as Krystle had learnt over the last few weeks was more than stubborn enough to see that she got what she wanted. In essence her precious girl was more than a little spoiled just like all of Blake Carrington's girls. Something that Krystle had wished to avoid at all costs yet Krystle was at a loss about how to go about correcting things.

It seemed the stricter she was with Krystina the more the girl pulled away from her, already a daddy's girl Krystina had clearly been learning too many lessons from her older sister Fallon during Krystle's many months absence from Denver, now Krystina had Blake wrapped tightly around her little finger. Whenever Krystle put down her foot about something Krystina would go to Blake and Blake paranoid about neglecting his youngest child gave in to her every whim.

Krystle had tried to talk to Blake about it but like anything that seemed to come out of her mouth at the moment no matter how sensible or sincere her advice Blake seemed hell bent on ignoring it. It was just so frustrating, he was so frustrating!

Couldn't Blake see that no matter how much he castigated himself, worked himself into the ground or pushed her aside Alexis wasn't coming back? There was just too much pain, too much pride involved from both parties.

Both were capable of admitting they were sorry but neither were capable of saying they were wrong!

Alexis would never be able to take Blake back and trust his love for her until he admitted his behaviour towards her had been cruel and wrong and Blake would never be truly able to believe in Alexis's word and fidelity until she stopped hiding behind excuses of loneliness to justify her infidelity.

That was why Blake and Alexis could never work, could never be harmonious in a relationship they both had to be right, they both put their own pride and feelings above what was best for the relationship. Whereas Krystle couldn't count the number of times she had bitten her tongue during her marriage to Blake, certainly they had had their fights but only over the issues that Krystle couldn't compromise on. Krystle was capable of taking cruelty that was inflicted upon herself, that was her burden to bear, but her principles refused to let others suffer because of her or her husband.

Blake had called her childlike and naive, and perhaps she was but Krystle couldn't stomach hypocrisy of any kind.

Now Blake was punishing Krystle for caring because she wasn't Alexis, because it wasn't Alexis urging him take care of himself and probably because he felt it was some sort of betrayal on top of betrayals if he did let her in and confide in her like he once used to. Part of Krystle just wanted to turn her jeep onto the highway and keep going, leaving Blake Carrington and the mess he had made of both their lives far behind her.

And yet she couldn't do it.

As much as Blake's cold behaviour hurt and frustrated her, Krystle knew her greatest weakness was that she couldn't walk away. Blake had hurt her many times over the years but always Krystle had come back to him, trying to make it work. In some ways Blake was very like her first husband. Mark had taken from his young wife and Krystle had given everything until there was nothing left to give. Yet it had been Mark probably in the most unselfish thing he had ever done during their marriage who had been the one to call time, to walk away and leave Krystle without a means of following him.

Forced to stand on her own two feet in time Krystle had found the strength to sever those emotional ties and move on. Yet if Mark hadn't left her Krystle couldn't help but wonder if she would have ever found the strength to move on? Would her life have been stuck in that same rut, probably with a few children, yet more ties to an unsuitable and dissolute husband?

Setting her foot on the brake Krystle felt visibly startled when she realised she had made the entire journey between Krystina's school and Colby Stud without even being aware of it. Shaking her head to try and rid her mind of such things Krystle fixed a warm smile on her face determined that hard work would help keep her thoughts focused.

Making her way through the stable yard Krystle nodded politely at a few of the hands she recognised by their face if not their name. Many of the stables were empty along with most of the staff, so that probably meant Jackson had them out at the gallops and was having the hands put them through their paces. They would be heading back soon so there was little real point in heading out to join them.

Another morning Krystle would have to ask Gerard to have Krystina dropped at school so that Krystle could be here earlier to see the horse's morning training…Krystina would probably prefer to be dropped off by limousine at any rate.

Pushing that somewhat bitter thought aside Krystle took the steps up from the tack room that led to Jackson's office, the prospect of waiting for him there not surpsinly more appealing than heading over to the house. Even if Alexis was away on business there was still the chance of running into Fallon, who was clearly following her mother's lead these days if her hostility towards Krystle was anything to go by.

Yet as she pushed open the door to Jackson's office Krystle stopped dead in the doorway, startled to find that the room wasn't as empty as she had assumed. In fact it was more than already occupied. A pretty girl, barely in her twenties, long blonde hair draped around her was curled up on the sofa a packed bag by her feet. But what was most noticeable was the large pregnant stomach poking out of her badly fitting jeans.

Feeling like an intruder and flustered for no good reason as the thoughts for why a heavily pregnant girl might be waiting in Jackson's office Krystle stumbled backwards. Panicking she reached out and grabbed for the banister to correct her balance just as a strong pair of arms steadied her from behind.

"Woah there Krystle in a hurry…" Jackson's teasing tone was light by her ear and Krystle felt herself blush at the feel on his strong arms around.

Yet Krystle wasn't the only person affected. At the sound of Jackson's voice the girl on the couch woke up, blearily wiping her eyes as she turned towards the doorway, her blue eyes alighting on the new arrivals.

"Oh Jackson!" She called out tears springing to her eyes and Krystle felt suddenly cold and bereft as Jackson pushed past her darting into the room without giving her a second glance; pulling the sobbing girl into his arms stroking her long hair gently.

Feeling awkward and embarrassed Krystle stepped back allowing the office door to swing close, and the reunited pair their privacy. Taking the stairs carefully Krystle gripped the banister tightly, trying to convince herself it was her near tumble down the stairs that had her so shaken and not the image of Jackson Hobbs cradling another woman so tenderly in his arms.


	9. Episode 9: The Senator

Episode 9: The Senator

Part 1a):

Taking a sip of her excellent chilled chardonnay Alexis Colby could almost imagine she was at a Denver society party…Well apart from the truly terrible fashion sense of most of the political wives who were liberally scattered about the room in bright clashing pinks silks and electric blue taffeta, which should never be worn by women over thirty! Well certainly not by women who had gotten that much sun over the years at any rate.

Standing at her elbow Jeff Colby cut a dashing figure in his dark tuxedo, his handsome good looks when combined with Alexis's beauty and elegance. Heads had turned when they entered. Clearly Jeff had made waves since his arrival in Canberra; no doubt his current battle against the environmental campaign of Senator Roberts had been the subject on every gossip lips. Alexis's arrival had fanned the flames and now it felt like every eye was on her.

And that was just the way she liked it.

"That's our boy." Jeff whispered before taking a sip of his own wine, nodding his head in the direction of a surprisingly handsome man who had to have been in his mid sixties, a sleek cap of white hair trimmed short, an echo of his earlier military career. At his elbow a neatly dressed woman of around the same age, dressed simply in a navy blue evening gown that was modest and appropriate for her figure, if not a little boring.

"Senator George Roberts, distinguished military career, decorated for bravery during both the Second World War, and then received the Victory Cross and Cross of Valour for his service in Korean. Honourably discharged after picking up an injury to his leg he then moved back home to take over the family business but moved into local politics after his community came under threat by a large mining corporation tried to buy up the land from the farmers for a fraction of its real worth. He took the case all the way to the state governor and won. Since then he's slowly made his way the political ladder, and with this environmental campaign there is a lot of interest some are even tipping him for the next prime ministerial spot."

"How touching." Alexis drawled taking another sip of her wine to quell the nausea that welled up inside her. "And does this paragon have any flaws…Married?"

"Happily for forty years, they have five children, and ten grandchildren." Jeff answered. "He doesn't go anywhere without his wife by his side."

Rolling her eyes Alexis wasn't buying it. No man was this perfect and no marriage either. There simply had to be an angle. "And can he be reasoned with?"

"If by reasoned with you mean bought?" Jeff replied softly. "No I don't think so. The family is comfortable enough and Senator Roberts seems to be a man of simple tastes."

Snorting Alexis couldn't resist adding. "You sound like you admire him Jeffrey?"

"He is a man that many look up to." Jeff answered simply and honestly. "And facing him across the negotiating table I can understand why."

"No wonder you haven't made any progress." Alexis muttered finishing her wine and waving over a passing waiter and handing him her glass. Adjusting her purple dress so that it emphasised the creamy smoothness of her exposed shoulders and just a hint of cleavage Alexis looped her diamond adorned hand through Jeff's elbow.

"Now shall we go meet this paragon of virtue?" She added fixing her most enigmatic and appealing smile on her face. It was show time.

Part 1b):

Fallon Carrington Colby was pissed off.

She had just gotten out of meeting dealing with a rather difficult and demanding client at The Carlton to be presented by a scribbled note from her assistant. Lin had phoned, and reading between the lines of what the ever polite oriental mojodomo had related to her assistant, Lin was enquiring as to how they should be treating their new houseguest, which would have been fine if Fallon had even heard about this guest in the first place!

So as soon as it was possible Fallon got into her car and sped back to the ranch, the wheels all but skidding to a stop on the gravel as Fallon brought it to a sudden stop and stormed up to the house.

Yet as angry as Fallon was the presence of Krystle drifting about was enough to completely throw her and Fallon could only imagine how Alexis would react if she knew in her absence not only was her stud manager inviting strays into her home but that he gave an old rival carte blanche to wander about as she chose. Fallon doubted very much her mother would approve but then Alexis had often wandered about the mansion despite Krystle's objections. The fact that the mansion had once been Alexis's home only slightly negated the fact that she was every time trespassing on Krystle's territory, even if the mansion did house her mother's children and grandchildren, Krystle was officially mistress of the house.

However since the children were at school Fallon couldn't imagine what would bring Krystle here now unless…Jackson…

Fallon tried to contain the spike of jealously that surged up within her, but the idea of her former step-mother and Jackson together…of Jackson preferring Krystle to her just like N…

No forcing that name and the conflicted feelings it still stirred up back down Fallon forced herself to concentrate on there here and now and the real reason she had come home early from work. As irritating and provoking as Krystle's presence was, she wasn't the immediate problem Fallon needed to deal with.

"Oh hello Fallon." Krystle greeted her former step-daughter politely, ever present of the awkward tension that seemed to exist between them since her return to Denver, a tension that no matter what Krystle said or tried to reach out to Fallon seemed to build rather than dissipate…probably due to Fallon's growing closeness to Alexis. "Are you home for lunch?"

"No I had a call from Lin who wanted to know the arrangements for the new houseguest, naturally since I knew nothing about any guest I came home to find out what the hell was going on!" Fallon retorted bluntly not bothering with pleasantries.

"Oh I see." Krystle answered awkwardly.

"You do, you've seen them then?" Fallon demanded her attention now fixed on Krystle since she might have something useful to offer.

Flushing under such intense scrutiny, Fallon's blue eyes narrowing on her like a laser beam, a glare very reminiscent of Alexis the similarity between the pair now undeniable. Krystle could only wonder that it hadn't struck her before how very alike mother and daughter were. Had they always been this similar, or had Krystle simple missed the personality quirks? Had she wanted to believe that Fallon was more Blake's than Alexis's simply because she was his favourite? Or was it just since returning to Denver and this upside world?

"Yes I have seen her." Krystle answered hesitantly.

"Her?" Fallon retorted, eyebrow raised and suspicion growing.

"Yes a young lady who is…umm…" Krystle hesitated unsure how to phrase it politely. "Is heavily pregnant."

"WHAT!" Fallon's screech caught Krystle by surprise and drew attention as a moment later Jackson appeared from down the hallway.

"Hello Fallon…"

"Don't you hello Fallon me!" Fallon snapped cutting off whatever flattery Jackson was going to come up with to get himself out of this one. "What the hell do you think you are playing at Jackson, you can't move one of your floozies into this house. I don't give a damn if she is knocked up, that's your dirty laundry I don't want it in this house and I know damn well Mother will agree!"

"Hey now hold on one second." Jackson cut in hotly. "Jessica is a good girl…It's complicated alright."

"Yeah nine months worth of complicated and I am sure she is really good. Good in bed perhaps. Has to be really something, why else would the man who doesn't do relationships be sticking his neck out." Fallon retorted suggestively ignoring the tightening of Jackson's jaw and the flickering of anger in his cobalt eyes.

"Just not good at birth control, well that is not my problem Jackson. Take your tramp to the nearest motel, she is not staying here I won't have my children exposed to that sort of behaviour!"

"Oh because there own mother is a paragon of virtue and such a fine role model." Jackson drawled sarcastically, his words and tone biting.

"Jackson, Fallon I don't think…" Krystle began trying to diffuse the growing tension between Fallon and Jackson both who were glaring at the other like they might explode, that or rip the other's head off. "This name calling really isn't going to get us anywhere."

"As long it gets that tramp out of my home then that's far enough." Fallon retorted prissily. "And mother will agree with me and it is her house, you are a guest Jackson you can't go moving people in, we aren't a refuge for unwed mothers and your collection of past conquests."

"If she goes I go!" Jackson argued hotly. "Perhaps you can then call Alexis and explain to her why she no longer has a stud manager or a partner?"

"Please you are hardly irreplaceable." Fallon sneered, "God knows why mother got involved with you in the first place…"

"Jealous much Fallon?" Jackson cut in smugly, sarcasm dripping from his tone. "Well go on, go running to Mummy, but I swear you throw that girl out on the street then I will go with her."

For a moment Fallon stared Jackson down, blue eyes meeting blue eyes in a fierce battle, until Fallon sneered. "Fine with me, I'll call Lin to get your bags shall I?" She added calling Jackson on his ultimatum and striding off down the corridor to summon the mojodomo.

"Shit." Jackson muttered running his hands through his dark hair, the fire of his encounter with Fallon suddenly evaporating as the reality of his situation sank in. Glancing back down the corridor where an exhausted Jess was trying to sleep off the effects of her journey and the last few months of hiding her condition from her adopted parents. How could he go back in there now and tell her the safe haven he always promised her was a lie.

Then feeling a soft yet strong hand on his arm Jackson glanced up surprised to meet a pair of eyes full of kindness and compassion. "Krystle what am I going to do, I can't kick Jess out but I can't walk away from this stud, I tied up all my money in this partnership. I could send her to a hotel but the poor kid just got thrown out of one home by people who claimed to love her, she needs kindness and support right now not a sterile hotel suite…"

"Shush it'll be alright, just give Fallon time to calm down she's a kind girl deep down, or perhaps you can call Alexis yourself, tell her your side of the story after all it is her house and if she says Jess can stay…." Krystle answered, the next offer simply falling from her lips as the soft almost hopeful look in Jackson's eyes, so different than the usual cocky arrogance tugged at something inside her. "In the meantime Jess can come and stay at the mansion with me."

"The Carrington Mansion?" Jackson was momentarily bemused, that was a bad idea on so many levels, not to mention the thought of Jessica being in a house owned and occupied by Blake Carrington…Not that Blake would have any idea of the complications and Jess was a smart girl, surely she could keep her head for a few days just until Jackson could make other arrangements.

"If you are certain it would be alright?" Jackson answered hesitantly his relief when Krystle smiled offset slightly by the sense of foreboding that stirred in his gut…

It was only a few days and not even Blake Carrington was that insightful. Jessica would just be under his roof for a brief visit, they would probably hardly meet face to face, she would be in and out in no time, certainly not long enough for Carrington to discover their connection. Certainly not long enough to discover he was about to be become great grandfather for the first time!

Part 2:

"Senator Roberts may I introduce Alexis Colby…Alexis Senator George Roberts and his wife Mrs Stella Roberts."

Politely Senator George Roberts accepted the hand that Alexis offered shaking it lightly before dropping it and sliding his hand back around his diminutive wife's shoulder. "You're reputation proceeds you Mrs Colby, I do believe half the room is already talking about you and the other half is listening."

"But are they saying anything good or bad I wonder?" Alexis replied, somewhat amused by the Senators opening gambit.

Personally Alexis had never been bothered by what people actually thought of her personally, that many thought her a bitch didn't cause her sleepless nights, that was for insecure people. As long as the gossip didn't make it to the front page or damage her stock position Alexis was happy to let people bitch about her to their hearts content, it was mostly jealousy at any rate.

"Probably a little of both if I am being honest." The good Senator replied. "You have certainly livened up our little party with your presence, your donation was most generous…Although I didn't realise International Development was such a keen interest of yours?" He added pointedly.

"I have a keen interest in many things Senator Roberts, I am more than simply a business woman, I am a mother, a grandmother and a philanthropist. I personally and my company Colby Co support many worthy causes."

"Even environmental?" The Senator's meek little wife piped up her dark blue eyes narrowing on their flashy interloper, but Alexis shrugged aside her barb without flinching. Like she would take criticism seriously from someone who dressed like Mrs Roberts did in public.

"Indeed Colby Co is one of the major founders and contributors to the Colorado National Park programme." Alexis retorted smugly. "However more than just philanthropic reasons brought me here tonight…"

"We know why you are here Mrs Colby."

"Please call me Alexis…"

"You are now the controlling shareholder for Denver Carrington are you not?" Senator Roberts continued on as if Alexis hadn't spoken his light blue eyes narrowing on her face.

Shrugging casually Alexis answered simply, reaching out to capture a flute of champagne from a passing waiter. "For my sins, yes. I bought the shares from my ex-husband who hoped I might be able to salvage the company that is our children's birthright. I have my family and all the Denver Carrington stockholders interests to look after, can you really blame me for wanting to help?"

"Help or influence?" Senator Roberts queried. "If you are here in the hopes of influencing my political decisions Mrs Colby then I am afraid you have had a wasted trip. Just as you have you family and stockholders to think about I have my constituents to look after and I wouldn't be doing my job as their representative if I didn't pursue justice for them."

Smiling tightly Alexis took a sip of her champagne, meeting and holding the good Senator's gaze before replying softly yet with a hint of steel to her tone. "Justice or a witch-hunt Senator?"

Flinching at Alexis's insinuation Senator Robert's face flushed. "There is more than enough solid evidence of Denver Carrington negligence."

"Really…" Alexis drawled, drawing out her words. "I thought there was more than enough evidence of the Tanker Captain's negligence, yet since even the FBI haven't been able to prove any senior executive ordered him to leave the shipping lane and since the poor man died, I fail to see how you can prove any deliberate intent or carelessness on Denver Carrington's part?"

"It was your oil raping the landscape!" Mrs Roberts hissed. "Your responsibility to clean up your mess."

"And we have been." Alexis answered simply. "Denver Carrington has funded all the clean up operations. I am not disputing the consequences Mrs Roberts merely trying to ensure the truth about what really happened doesn't get lost because it would political expedient to find a convenient scapegoat, and who better than a faceless foreign corporation. Except for the fact that Denver Carrington isn't just men and women in business suits it is men and women on the ground with livelihoods of their own and families to feed… "

"And what about the livelihoods you have ruined, fishermen and divers put out of work, not the mention the environmental cost and damage to one of the worlds greatest ecological treasures, do you really expect to get away Scott free?" Stella added hotly glancing across at her silent husband for support, at once highlighting to Alexis who the real driver was behind Senator Roberts's sudden interest in the Denver Carrington Question.

The power behind the man who had been driving the committee to reject Jeff's reasonable compensation offers, insisting that Denver Carrington accept criminal negligence first and so opening themselves up to a potentially damaging prosecution that could drag on for years and years and never be settled. Well Alexis needed this case settled now not years down the line, every week that the Australian government delayed, every time they sent back Denver Carrington's propositions for compensations Frank Dobson and his mysterious Mr Davenport edged nearer and nearer to taking over Denver Carrington. Already the board members were getting restless and Jeff wouldn't have dragged her halfway around the world if he wasn't getting desperate.

"I have never said we are opposed to compensating the victims of this terrible tragedy." Alexis answered sincerely; forcing down her amusement at the way the older woman seemed to vibrate with righteous anger. If anything it was even more unattractive than that unflattering off the rack gown she was wearing.

"This was a terrible tragic accident and no one should be made to suffer for it, but to accept criminal negligence like your husband keeps campaigning…" Alexis trailed off shaking her head before lifting her large emerald eyes once more to meet Senator Roberts steely blue gaze.

"I am not here to fight you Senator Roberts, I want to help us find a way forward from this tragedy; a way that will ensure the victims of this accident are compensated in a way that builds for their futures without destroying the livelihoods of a lot of hardworking and decent American families in the process. You are a reasonable and compassionate man Senator, who I am sure grew up seeing communities dependant on one main employer for their livelihood and I am sure you saw with your own eyes what happens in those employers suddenly vanish. Unemployment leads to poverty and a terrible trap that affects every man woman and child in that community for generations. In many places around the world Denver Carrington is that employer, we have thousands of families dependant on us, children whose future indirectly rests in my hands and now in yours as well."

Alexis watched the conflict play over the Senator's face, as out of the corner of her eye she could make out the bemusement on Jeff's face. Naturally Jeff had believed the worst that Alexis would rely on blackmail or bribery to make her case, always believing the worst. Clearly Jeff had spent too many years listening to Blake rant nonsense about her. True Alexis was always prepared to use those tools and she already had irons in the fire just in case, but Jeff always overlooked the most deadly weapon in Alexis's arsenal, her disarming charm and ability to act completely sincere.

Senator Roberts had undoubtedly prepared himself for her less than savoury attacks with a dozen or so cutting remarks and self righteous sermons. In fact giving her reputation Alexis doubted the man had even considered she might attempt the honest impassioned plea. He had hadn't expected it, so he hadn't prepared a defence against it and Alexis had had him on the backfoot the moment she started her case.

Play the innocent damsel in distress, paint yourself the wronged heroine or the repentant sinner and a good man would fall over his own feet to help you. Men like Senator Roberts…Men like Blake or even Dex couldn't help themselves, couldn't stop themselves from wanting to play the hero or Alexis's knight in shining armour. And stimulating that desire…that need to come to her aid had always been Alexis's most deadly weapon.

"George you can't possibly…"

"Alright I am listening Mrs Colby." Senator Roberts answered softly ignoring his wife's muffled protest. "Mr Colby perhaps you would be so kind as to ask my wife to dance, I have two left feet and Stella rarely has the pleasure of dancing without having her toes stepped on."

Nodding politely Jeff offered his arm to Mrs Roberts who with a pointed glare at her husband reluctantly accepted and stepped stiffly into Jeff's arms.

"Alright Mrs Colby you have my attention, say I believe you to be genuine, just what did you have in mind?"

Smiling sweetly Alexis slipped her hand into the crook of the Senator's elbow, drawing him away from the hubbub of the main party and out on to the terrace where the warm breeze was pleasantly refreshing after the crush of the hall.

"An independently managed compensation fund for victims, the total amount to be negotiated based on the number of claims already filed and our insurers assessments. I might suggest setting up a panel of independent experts, a mixture of insurers, politicians and legal counsel to assess each claim on its merits." Alexis replied watching as the Senator frowned but eventually nodded.

"That seems reasonable but it could take some time to set up and begin to compensate the victims." He muttered. "Perhaps you might consider providing a smaller provisional payout to those most keenly affected whilst their claim is being properly assessed, something to cover their living costs and provide for their families?"

"That sounds fair." Alexis answered softly whilst inwardly she crowed, provisional payments that could be eked out over the longer financial term would have less impact on this years profits and would eventually end up being deducted from the total amount awarded; lessoning the final bill Denver Carrington would have to pay. Plus it would avoid any more of those damaging press stories!

"And of course you would have to continue to cover all the clean up costs?"

"Of course." Alexis replied all innocence and earnestness. "Denver Carrington is not an unethical company Senator Roberts and until this disaster it had one of the finest safety records…Not quite as good as Colby Co's of course." Alexis added her lips twitching into a beguiling smile.

"You seem sincere…"

"Oh we are." Alexis insisted. "We don't intend to run away or shirk our responsibilities Senator but I cannot in good conscience allow Denver Carrington to become bankrupted as a result of this accident. Yet the longer this matter drags on the further our share price drops making us vulnerable to hostile takeovers from less scrupulous organisations. And if Denver Carrington cannot pay its way how on earth will we be able to compensate those in need. Then everyone looses. If only there was some way to help speed up the process?"

Sighing Senator Roberts was forced to admit. "You may have a point. However I am but one man Mrs Colby…"

"Please call me Alexis. Mrs Colby makes me sound cold and implacable. We are none of us really what gossip reports us to be, I have a reputation for being ruthless I know but that was only when circumstances force me to be. I was thrown into the oil business after my husband Cecil's death and it is a cut throat world with precious few friends to help you and I would very much like it if we could be friends." Alexis insisted resting her free hand on his arm and watching as George wavered before conceding, every moment more firmly under her spell.

"I will do what I can to help you M…Alexis." George amended with a bashful smile. "However I am but one man and the other members of the committee will also need to be convince by your argument. How about I arrange for you to come and present your proposal directly to the committee instead off all this paper shuffling by lawyers?"

Smiling brightly Alexis squeezed the Senator's arm for a moment before letting go and pulling back, amused when the man unconsciously seemed to lean towards her. "That sounds perfect George thank you. You know you underestimate yourself I am sure, you are far too modest!"

"I am merely one man…an old man doing what he can for his country."

"You are not old!" Alexis insisted fluttering her eyelashes. "You're still in your prime, why you've had Jeff on a short leash and quaking in his boots."

"He is a fine young man, a little green perhaps." George answered simply. "And I suppose I had better go and relieve him, I believe my wife will be wanting to head home…It is getting late."

"Is it? I am still on Denver time but before you leave I insist on a dance…No I insist…" Alexis added when George began to protest.

"If you must." Senator Roberts replied with a resigned air. "But I wasn't kidding earlier about my dancing prowess, your toes may never forgive me!"

Smiling sweetly as she leaned closer, deliberately giving the Senator a prime view of her pert cleavage which to his credit he tried and failed valiantly not to stare at, Alexis lowered her voice to a husky whisper. "Don't worry about a thing George you're in the hands of an expert, I always make sure to be a two steps ahead just follow my lead…"

Part 3a):

"Dex there is nothing here!"

Sighing Dex put down the sheaf of papers he was examining for the umpteenth time at the sound of his sister's whine. Marin may have sounded more like the sulky spoilt child he remembered than a grown woman whose judgement he could trust, but she wasn't exactly wrong about their search, they really hadn't found anything of use…And the deadline was fast approaching.

"I know…Let's take a break get some lunch…Maybe something will come to us…"

Snorting Marin couldn't help her sarcastic reply. "I never took you for a Polly-Anna Dex!"

Chuckling at his sisters surprisingly amusing comment Dex dropped the dusty papers and leant back against the bureau he had been searching through. "Ok you may have a point…If there was anything to be found in here we would have come across it already…How are you coming with the letters, anything there?"

Dex had delegated the task of reading through their parents love letters to Marin, there was only so much sentimental sap he could stomach reading before his balls shrivelled up and fell off turning him from Dexter to Dextrina. Besides Marin seemed to jump at the chance to be useful, something that had initially surprised him.

Yet the longer he spent in this draftee museum of a house, rattling about the empty rooms with only Marin and a couple of staff members for company, Dex could begin to understand the reason for his sisters sudden helpfulness…She was lonely…

Dex had his son, and depending on her mood or whim of the week he most often than not had Alexis; he lived in a house full of people…Not necessarily people he liked all the time but he was never alone. Didn't his sister have any friends?

Once upon a time Dex could remember the endless streams of teenage girls underfoot, their mooning faces ogling him whenever he came home on leave. Marin had certainly had a thriving social life in college but since then…Had she truly given up that much of her life in the last few years caring for their ailing father?

Dex felt a pang of guilt. A pang that intensified as he suddenly realised Marin had been answering his earlier question and he hadn't even been listening.

"…So anyway it seems grandfather must have gotten over his objections because Mother doesn't mention any more quarrels in her letters…Oh and then there weren't anymore letters just a telegram from the war office about shipping Dad home to a military hospital somewhere upstate…"

"Military hospital?" Dex questioned suddenly intrigued. "What was Sam Dexter doing in a hospital?"

Shrugging Marin glanced down at the missive in her hands. "Don't ask me it just said injured in combat to be transferred from the Mission Hospital in Paris to some Army hospital in Boston."

"Let me see that." Dex muttered all but snatching the telegram from his sisters hands and squinting down at the typed script that did indeed say exactly what his sister had said. "But this doesn't make any sense…Why didn't he ever tell us about this?"

Being injured by enemy fire was certainly not the picture of Sam Dexter's war that Dex had always been drawn. His grandfather had implied that Sam had spent the war with the engineering corps and as such hadn't really been a solider at all, but if Sam hadn't been a coward, if he really hade been injured in battle then why had he put up with his father's jibes…why hide the fact that he had been wounded in the line of duty?

Running his hand through his dark hair Dex restrained himself from tugging on it, between stress and Alexis it was already thinning on top, and since Dex had no desire to go bald before fifty at the earliest he had better start taking care now.

"We are getting more questions and no answers." Dex huffed. "At this rate we are never going to find what we need."

Rolling her eyes at her brother's dramatics Marin picked at the loose thread on the carpet. "Dex playing Devil's advocate here why don't you just pay up the five million and be done with it, you'll get the answer soon enough when you get the rest of that letter."

"And how can I be certain it is genuine?" Dex spat back his handsome face darkening. "How do I know for certain that five million will be the end of it, blackmailers are not known for keeping their word, soon it will be another five then ten…I don't have endless funds to pay out just to keep this out of the press. Besides I have better uses for my money than paying out to scum, I need to match whatever investment Blake puts into our new company; I can't risk being squeezed out by my own partner."

"Alright." Marin insisted holding up her hands in surrender to cut off her brother's tirade. "Well since you have made your mind up there is really only one other thing to do…One other person who might know the answer, she seems to take pride in knowing everybody's business but hell if it was me five million seems like a bargain price by comparison!"

Groaning as the pieces fell into place Dex could only groan in horror. "Great Aunt Josephine."

Part 3b):

"And then this little piggy went to market and this little piggy ran all the way home…"

Blake Carrington was not a man accustomed to play, as child he had abandoned games for a job as soon as someone would employ him, and as a father the first time around he had been too busy building his empire to sit on the floor and play with his young children. However now in the autumn of his life Blake found it surprisingly pleasurable to set down his dull and grinding paperwork if only for a brief spell and play with his daughter.

Just to hear Krystina's excited childish laughter as he tickled her made Blake feel young again.

It somehow didn't matter quite so much that he had a pile of paperwork of epic proportions still waiting for his attention, it wasn't going anywhere as without Dexter cosignatory Blake was all but dead in the water anyway. Still Blake had made some progress today, even if he couldn't approve the purchase orders, he had been in touch with a rental company about leasing some office space and had contacted and agency about obtaining some secretarial support. And the prospect of no longer having to type his own letters and memos was more than enough to make Blake smile.

"Daddy can we play hide and seek…I'll hide you count to a hundred then come and find me?"

Smiling indulgently Blake nodded watching as his youngest child scampered off like an eager puppy. Blake by contrast took a little longer to raise himself off of the floor, his old bones aching from the unaccustomed romping, reminding him that although he may have felt young and alive was now nearer to his dotage than his childhood.

Glancing at his watch Blake brushed out the creases in his trousers. It was getting late, not late late but later than Krystle usually got home. Normally she went and picked Krystina up from school and came straight home, but instead Krystle had phoned Gerard and asked him to have Krystina picked up by the town car.

Yet it wasn't the change of plans that had Blake perplexed, things came up, plans had to be changed and it was just as easy for Blake's driver to pick Krystina up as it was for Krystle…It was more the fact that Krystle hadn't said why or when she might actually be home that had Blake concerned.

Glancing down at his watch again it became clear that more than 100 seconds had passed and Blake had better start seeking before Krystina became impatient and made him hide. The memories of planning Sardines at one of the old house parties was more than enough to put Blake off trying to hide in a dark cramped space ever again…

Although if he recalled things correctly he had actually been rather enjoying the game when it was just Alexis who had found him and joined him in one of the guest wardrobes…It was only when Sam and Mavis and several other of the old crowd had also found them and squeezed into the too small space whilst Blake tried to calm himself down that he began to go off the idea.

Shaking himself out of that somewhat debauched memory Blake couldn't quiet shift the smirk off of his face as he began to search for his daughter. However stepping out into the hallway Blake suddenly found all thought of finding Krystina vanish as he stood in stunned amazement as Gerard began up the staircase carrying two large suitcases.

Yet it that stunned Blake to momentary dumbness the two figures following in Gerard's footsteps damn near stole his breath as well.

Krystle and another woman…young lady…a very young and very pregnant young lady…following her luggage up his staircase and undoubtedly into one of his guest rooms…

Shaking off his momentary stupor Blake strode quickly into the entrance hall and took the stairs as quickly as his feet would let him. Breathing only slightly heavier as he reached the top Blake reached out and grasped Krystle's elbow.

"Dear God Blake you startled me!" Krystle exclaimed raising her hand to calm her racing heart.

"The feeling is mutual I assure you." Blake replied his dark eyes flickering from Krystle to take the measure of the young lady standing a few feet away, her own dark brown eyes meeting his gaze with surprising courage. "Perhaps you would care to introduce me?"

Swallowing uncomfortably Krystle could tell Blake was angry but that in front of their guest he was doing his best to be civil. Yet this was not how she had wanted Blake to find out, Krystle had hoped to have Jessica safely resting in her room when she broke the news to Blake. He wasn't likely to be thrilled about the prospect of a stranger moving into his house and so Krystle had wanted to break the news to him gently…

Something that had spectacularly backfired!

"Blake this is Jessica…Jessica my h…former husband Blake Carrington." Krystle added blushing at her almost slip, stubbling slightly over her next words. "Jessica needed a place to stay for a while and so I invited her."

"Pleased to meet you sir." Jessica answered softly and Blake could hear the twang of a southern accent. "I just want to say thank you for your hospitality upfront…I know you probably don't really want me here…I am sure it won't be for long just until Jackson sorts something out."

Jackson.

Now the pieces were falling into place.

The damn gigolo getting a girl young enough to be his own daughter in trouble and then foisting her off on to others to deal with…Not that it was the girls fault but dammit didn't Krystle think before embroiling herself into other people's dramas. Now they were stuck right in the middle and even Blake Carrington wasn't bastard enough to throw a pregnant girl out on to the street.

Forcing a tight smile Blake nodded at the girls genuine thanks, his anger melting slightly as he gazed into her frightened face, young slight and pretty, dark eyes framed with a halo of blonde hair she looked exhausted as though a strong wind would blow her over and Blake couldn't help but feel protective.

In a way she reminded him a little of Amanda…

There was something in her lost and overwhelmed expression that reminded him of the twenty year old who had come to Denver and clung to him for support as she searched desperately for the truth about her father and battled through the emotional minefield of establishing a relationship with her mother. However Amanda had grown up. In the end Blake's fatherly protectiveness had stifled her, she had rebelled and pushed him away before running away from Denver and her Carrington family all initial effort to remain in contact rebuffed.

Blake had damn near almost destroyed his special relationship with Fallon just as easily, and now even months after the split for Alexis the rift between them still wasn't fully healed. Of his daughters only Krystina remained Daddy's little girl…And how long would that last? How long before she grew up and no longer needed her father?

"You are welcome Jessica…Perhaps you would like to settle in before dinner, Gerard will show you down when it is time."

Waiting until the girl had vanished and the door closed behind her Blake turned to the silent Krystle allowing his expression to convey what he dare not say aloud. Turning on his heel before he lost what handle he had on his control Blake stormed back down the corridor and down the staircase, ignoring Krystle calling his name. Right now he had no desire to hear her excuses…Nor did he have any lingering appetite for dinner.

There was only one thing on Blake Carrington's mind and that was letting Jackson Hobbs have a piece of it!

Part 3c):

Alexis Colby was not amused.

Things had been going so well for her, Senator Roberts had proven susceptible to her charms and arguments when separated from that dull drab wife of his, in fact when Alexis had finally retired to bed in the small hours of the morning she hadn't bothered to unpack more than the essentials…With any luck her stay in this dreary little city might be of shorter duration than even Alexis had dared hope.

She should have known things were going too smoothly and that Karma was about to make her pay big time.

This first sign that things were about to take a dive-bomb was that damn phone call.

_Alexis had barely gotten off to sleep when the telephone had begun to screech shrilly in her ear. Groaning Alexis had turned over to slap Dex and force him to answer it. It was only when her hand slapped down on an empty pillow that reality began to sink in._

She wasn't at the ranch and Dex was hundred of thousands of miles away…So the only person who could shut that damn racket up was her.

_Groaning as she blinked her eyes open her scowl deepening as she caught sight of the time on her bedside clock Alexis's mood had soured to epic proportions before she had even picked up the receiver, whoever was the idiot on the other end was about to get hell._

"_Hello!" Alexis snapped, growling her annoyance._

"_Mummy thank goodness you are in I tried earlier and…"_

"_Fallon do you know what the time is here, it's three in the morning I just got to bed!" Alexis hissed before a flash of panic set in, what if something was wrong with the children, Jack, Dex? "What's wrong is it Jack…The Children?"_

"_Oh sorry Mummy, no we're all fine, well I assume Jack is fine he's in Wyoming with Dex… I guess I just forgot about the time difference and I needed to speak to you…Look I…"_

"_This isn't an emergency?" Alexis huffed her panic giving way to anger. "Then good night Fallon."_

"_But Mummy it's Jackson he wants to move some pregnant little tramp in…"_

_Yawning Alexis barely feigned interest. "Fallon just deal with it, you're in charge alright don't bother me about trivialities at four in the morning! Now I am going back to sleep Good Night!" Setting the phone down before her daughter could babble on and on and ruin any chance of her getting back to sleep. However a momentary thought did flicker through her sleep deprived mind, where Fallon led Jackson would follow…_

_Groaning Alexis pushed 0 for the hotel reception, fortunately it was promptly answered by the receptionist who sounded far too damned cheerful for Alexis's tastes._

"_Reception this is Caroline how can I be of assistance?"_

_Resisting the urge to roll her eyes and comment that the receptionist could be of assistance by abandoning her perky Polly-Anna routine Alexis instead infused her distaste into her tone. _

"_This is Mrs Colby in the presidential suite you can be of assistance by NOT putting through anymore calls to my suite until a civilised hour, instead please ask any callers to leave a message unless it is a case of bodily harm or a catastrophe of international proportions! Unless of course note taking isn't a skill they teach you when they hand over that ugly and unflattering uniform?"_

_For a moment there was a stunned silence and then a choked almost tearful. "Yes I'll be sure to…"_

_Yet Alexis didn't bother to listen to the rest of the girl's sentence, she had the agreement she was looking for and so she dumped the receiver back onto the phone. One last glance at the clock and it's mocking numbers gloated back 4.34…God she had to be up in little over three hours. _

_What had possessed her to invite Senator Roberts to a breakfast meeting? Lunch would have been more than adequate._

_At this rate the man would turn up, take one look at Alexis's pale tired face with bags under her eyes that would probably be the size of saucers and back out their agreement so fast you would see the smoke from under his heels._

In the end when Alexis had dragged herself out of bed in the morning her face hadn't looked quite as bad as she had first feared. And what bags there were had been cunningly hidden by makeup. Stifling her yawn behind a large cup of coffee, Alexis tried to force herself to wake up.

Finally there was a knock on her suite door and pasting a beguiling smile on to her face Alexis moved to answer it, her smile slipping slightly when instead of Senator Roberts pleasant face staring back at her it was the somewhat less welcoming and decidedly less impressed Stella Roberts.

And that was all the sign Alexis needed…Today was really not going to be a good one!

Part 4a):

"Mrs Roberts I am surprised, I was expecting your husband." Alexis managed after finding her balance once more. Clearly the senator's wife had intended to throw her off balance by simply turning up but Alexis was too experienced to let her distaste show through her showface and so Alexis grudgingly let her guest into her suite.

"Oh I know." Stella Roberts answered tartly. "However my husband had a more pressing engagement to attend with the Prime Minister and so I offered to come instead…We have one or two things to discuss Mrs Colby."

"We do?" Alexis answered innocently yet even she could contain a tinge of sarcasm from entering her tone as Stella Roberts put herself front and centre and in Alexis's way. "I have business with your husband Mrs Roberts, forgive me if I fail to understand what I would need to discuss with an un-elected housewife."

Clearly that taunt hit home as Stella Roberts smug expression vanished and her cheeks tightened as if slapped. "A wife of a Senator Mrs Colby."

Smiling sweetly Alexis's retort could have been coated in poison it was intent to prove fatal. "Yes but it is your husband who was elected to represent, your husband who was appointed by the Prime Minister to head the committee, and it is your husband and not you Mrs Roberts with who I am prepared to negotiate and discuss confidential information with; information that you are not authorised to see if I am correct?"

"And what sort of negotiations do you carry out in your hotel room Mrs Colby?" Stella retorted sharply her blue eyes raking up and down Alexis's neatly dressed figure; the blue fitted business suit hugged every curve.

"I mean I had heard you used usual negotiating techniques but I had assumed they were exaggerations, a woman who has reached such a position surely wouldn't need to lower herself to…to…" Stella broke off her nose crinkling in disgust. "However now that I have met you in person I am not sure I would put anything beneath you Mrs Colby. In fact I imagine that is the favourite position for your victims before you…"

"Before I what Mrs Roberts, no need to be coy now, cards on the table." Alexis answered tartly sizing up the petite woman in front of her, who despite her appalling dress sense, the beige shift dress she had on today deserved to be taken out and burned in ritual protest as an affront to fashion; still the woman had guts something Alexis normally would have admired…If she wasn't standing in the way of something she wanted.

"You don't want me near your husband? Right?" Alexis added not waiting for the other woman to answer. "Well the sooner this compensation business is sorted the sooner I will return to Denver, so surely it is in your interest to assist me Mrs Roberts…"

"Assist you destroy my husbands reputation!" Stella spat. "My husband is a good man, an honest man, but when it comes to something he is naïve…He actually believes you are here to help, that you care about the poor men and women you employ! Fortunately some of us are no so blind, you are here to protect your own investment nothing more nothing less. Well I won't let you use my husband's good nature to your advantage and ruin his career."

"I have no interest in ruining your husband's career." Alexis answered honestly. "In fact I can only see good things coming for him from our collaboration…No I think the real reason you are here Mrs Roberts is that you are afraid…afraid of loosing control…Well that isn't my problem…Now if you don't mind I at least actually have work to do so if you don't mind."

At least Mrs Roberts seemed capable of taking that hint and with a barely concealed glare of disgust she turned and stormed out of Alexis's suite, slamming the door for good measure.

Letting out the huff she had been suppressing Alexis couldn't help but be concerned. Stella Roberts was a wild card and matters were too delicate to let someone with that much influence run around souring her deal. Yet Alexis didn't know her opponent well enough to be able to guess her next move…She needed insider knowledge and assistance and there wasn't time to find that sort contact for herself.

Grudgingly there seemed to be only one option available to her.

Walking back into her bedroom Alexis flicked through the filofax next to the bed, until she came upon the card she was looking for, at the time she had accepted it she hadn't really intended to call…not even if she had been a little tempted. After all Alexis had half expected to see him at the soiree the night before in any case but there had been no sign of him all night. He certainly didn't play the game by any rules that Alexis recognised but a maverick was precisely what she needed right now, her own unexpected ace in the hole.

Picking up the receiver Alexis punched in the numbers before she could come to her sense and change her mind. A moment later the call connected. "I'd like to speak to Mr Ethan Hailsworth, tell him Alexis Colby is calling he'll know what it is about…"

Part 4b):

Blake Carrington couldn't sleep. This wasn't in itself a new condition. Blake had on and off over the years suffered form bouts of insomnia, normally triggered by yet another crisis with Denver Carrington.

Yet this time it wasn't so much business problems weighing on his mind but rather that there was something about his earlier confrontation with Jackson Hobbs that kept playing on his mind…As if there was something more behind what Jackson had said…It was almost as if he was trying to put together a puzzle with plenty of missing pieces and no box to guide him.

So in this case it was not knowing that was keeping Blake awake and lying in the dark staring up at the ceiling wasn't helping any.

Grunting Blake pulled back the covers and swung his feet out of bed, for a moment he sat on the edge of his mattress staring out into the gloom, it seemed sitting up failed to bring any moment of clarity either!

Things had seemed so straight forward earlier when he had stormed over to Colby Acres, once again ignored the ban Alexis had imposed on him stepping foot on her property…After all how many times had Alexis ignored his own directives to stay out of the mansion? Not once!

_In fact by the time Blake had finished the drive over in the Porsche speeding most of the way he had worked himself up into quite the righteous fury. He hadn't even waited for Lin to greet him properly before demanding,_

"_Where is Jackson?"_

_However clearly Alexis's mojodomo was well accustomed to dealing with hot headed and intemperate customers as he politely ignored Blake's rude opening, "Welcome Mr Carrington, Mr Hobbs is currently in his office over in the stud if you would like to wait in the sitting room I could call…"_

"_And give him enough time to run away!" Blake snorted. "No I think I'll go surprise him, turn about is fair enough!"_

_By the time Blake made it over to the stable block, only slightly out of breath which at least proved his morning swim regime was having some positive effect, Lin could have course have phoned Jackson who would have had ample time to escape. So Blake was pleasantly surprised when on following the directions of a somewhat skittish stable hand he stomped up the stairs to Jackson's office his quarry was still there, and absently flicking through a stock catalogue._

_However on hearing his door slam open Jackson's attention was firmly on his visitor and for a moment Blake could have sworn there was a look of fear and panic that crossed Jackson's face before his expression shuttered causing Blake to wonder if he had imagined the whole thing. "Mr Carrington a pleasure how can I help…Interested in a racehorse perhaps?"_

"_I don't find your attempt at humour particularly funny Mr Hobbs and you know precisely why I am here!"_

"_Jessica."_

"_Yes Jessica. The poor young lady you have off loaded onto my family."_

_Clearly that was precisely the right thing to say if Blake wanted to evoke Jackson's rarely seen temper._

"_I didn't offload anyone, Krystle offered to let Jessica stay in order to stop me leaving my home and my partnership!" Jackson answered hotly slamming the stock book down onto his desk for good measure. _

"_But I suppose as usual you didn't bother to ask before jumping to conclusions Carrington…My how wonderful it must be to be Blake Carrington the righteous, knowing the truth in every situation without even the inconvenience of needing to ask questions like the rest of us mere mortals."_

_Gritting his teeth Blake tried not to react to the insult…Fine perhaps he did have a tendency to leap before he looked on occasion but that didn't change the fact that this Jessica was under his roof and not Jackson's. _

"_Don't go changing the subject Mr Hobbs, now I want to know just what you intend to do, you have a responsibility to do by right by that girl…poor thing is barely more than a child…she needs someone to look out for her and since she is now under my roof then that makes her my responsibility. So I am asking, since she doesn't seem to have a father willing to come here and stand up to you, are you going to do right by this girl and her child…your child!"_

"_Woah!" Jackson exclaimed raising his hands in surrender. "Hold on their Carrington take a step back from that assumption you made a flying leap at. That isn't my child!"_

"_What…"_

"_Jessica is not a conquest." Jackson continued ignoring the look of confusion and disbelief on Blake's face as he ploughed on. "She is my god daughter, I helped find her adoptive parents after her mother died back when she was just a baby. I had grown up with her father and when he abandoned them I stepped in to help. Then her mother died and I couldn't raise her so I found a couple who were willing. They were a little older so most agencies weren't interested and then even though I was little more than a teenager myself at the time they were grateful enough that they named me her godfather."_

"_But…I thought…"_

"_Oh I know what you thought Carrington." Jackson snapped back. "But since you would hardly be the first one to jump to that conclusion considering my reputation I suppose I can let that one go! Part of me is even a little impressed that you would come over here to look out for a girl you've only just met; if I didn't suspect that this little trip had more to do with that liaison between me and Alexis that your jealously made up!" He added generously walking over to the sideboard where he kept his bourbon pouring himself one before offering one to the stunned Blake._

_Accepting the strong liquor Blake slumped into the seat opposite the desk as Jackson continued to lean lazily against the wall. "There really is nothing going on between Alexis and me by the way; not that it would be any of your business if there were, well other than the fact you are still in love with the woman." Jackson muttered ironically._

"_I know she told me…" Blake answered gruffly taking a sip of his drink to cover his less than truthful reply._

"_Yes and I am sure you believed her straight away?" Jackson snorted able to pick apart Blake's half-truths. "You two sure are a piece of work, you can't love together, you can't live apart…Alexis gets just as jealous as you do Blake she's just much better at hiding it, well from you at least."_

_Choosing to ignore that particular piece of information Blake tried to regain control of the conversation, sitting there and having a virtual stranger pick apart his character faults and relationship problems like some sort of shrink was unnerving. "So Jessica…"_

"_What about her?" Jackson answered knowingly his blue eyes twinkling._

"_Why did you come here, what happened to her parents…her adoptive parents I mean?" Blake clarified when Jackson seemed to tense at his first question._

"_They got old." Jackson answered simply staring down into his glass. "Peter her father died of a heart attack when he was seventy-five Jess was only fifteen, then a few years Claire her mother started to develop dementia, she's been in a home the last three years, she doesn't even recognise Jess anymore. Poor kid hasn't had it easy, I tried to be there but with all the travelling for work it wasn't like she could live with me, besides she is an adult. I tried to keep her in school paid for her tuition but she dropped out and moved in with her jerk of a boyfriend."_

_The disgust in his tone told Blake all he needed to know about why the father of the child was not about to step up and provide support._

"_So you're all the family she has left?" Blake muttered to himself looking at the younger man before him with an appraising eye, perhaps Jackson Hobbs had redeeming qualities after all no matter how well hidden. "What about her natural father, hasn't he ever provided for her?"_

_Clearly that was the wrong thing to say as Jackson's tanned face blanched and his fingers tightened on the glass. Blake watched as the younger man took a heavy draw on the alcohol. "I haven't seen Jess's father in twenty five years and if I did I would struggle not to put a bullet in the back of his head. The man is scum, Jess was better off not knowing him."_

_That was a definite no then._

"_Look Carrington I am grateful for your help in this, believe me the last thing I would want is Jess under your roof!" Jackson grumbled lifting his eyes to meet Blake's dark gaze. "Jess is my family, she doesn't need yours but I am stuck…I have a contract with Alexis, I have business I have invested all my money into…I am not a man accustomed to having to ask for help but Jess is more important than my pride…"_

"_Miss Jessica is welcome to stay in my house for as she needs." Blake answered, cutting Jackson off before he was reduced to grovelling. "It would be my pleasure. She seems a lovely young lady and she hasn't had the easiest time of it, and as Krystle already has her under her wing and I doubt even if both of us wanted to change that I doubt we could manage it." Blake added with a chuckle, relieved when Jackson managed to crack a small smile. _

So it was it was somewhat confusing when Blake's next sentence, meant to calm and reassure Jackson seemed to have the opposite effect. It was that reaction combined with the dose of reality about Alexis that now had Blake staring into the gloom of his bedroom unable to sleep.

Really he had only meant to be polite not step on Jackson's toes…

"_We would be happy to have her stay as long as she needs, I'll talk to her later or have Krystle talk to her, reassure her that we don't think of her stay as an imposition but that while she is with us she should think of herself and we will treat her just like part of the family." _

Part 5a):

"You know normally when I call and let someone know that I want to see them most people have the sense to jump to it…" Alexis drawled her emerald eyes narrowing as Ethan Hailsworth had the nerve to smirk as he leant casually against the doorframe. "Most people don't keep me waiting half the day." She added enthusing her distaste into her tone.

"Well I am not one of your lackeys Alexis, I come and go as I choose, I help who I choose when I choose." Ethan answered smoothly his dark eyes raking in appreciation over the elegant black evening dress, the chiffon fabric skimming lightly over Alexis's curves, the uneven neckline exposing one creamy shoulder whilst the other peeked out teasingly from underneath the slashed fabric.

"Well too bad for you!" Alexis huffed. "Now if you don't mind I am meeting Jeff for dinner. However if you would care to wait until I get back…"

"Wrong I am taking you to dinner Colby can find himself some pretty little bimbo, there are plenty in the bar that should suit his tastes." Ethan cut in ignoring the way Alexis's eyes flashed warningly. "You're the one who wanted to talk Alexis."

Huffing Alexis was torn. Dinner with Ethan would no doubt be entertaining; it had been quite some time since she had engaged in flirting over dinner and discussion of metaphorical political assassinations. The prospect of clashing sabres with someone equally skilled in that arena was tempting…and yet Ethan had kept her waiting and that was an unforgivable crime.

"I have no interest in discussing my private affairs in public Ethan however I could spare you a few minutes now…" Alexis insisted standing back from the door she allowed an amused Ethan to enter.

"Normally I wouldn't have called you at all, things of such a sensitive delicate nature I prefer to take of personally using people I know and can trust…" Or that Alexis had enough dirt on so they wouldn't dare double cross her. "However there is something of a time constraint involved here and nothing is gained without taking on a little risk."

"Why choose to take a risk on me, somehow I don't think it's because you trust me Alexis?"

"I have to trust someone." Alexis answered simply surprising Ethan if his slight flinch was anything to go by. "Besides you have gone through a lot of effort to court my attention, you had to have a reason, if you really want me to trust you Ethan perhaps you should start by telling me why? Why did you send me that painting, the rosette and those little notes?"

"Because I wanted to catch your attention." Ethan answered softly his dark eyes locked on Alexis's as her emeralds narrowed in suspicion.

"To what end?"

Snorting at her distrustful tone Ethan answered teasingly. "To no end, to see if it would work, to amuse myself perhaps…"

"So I was an amusement." Alexis huffed. "A silly game…Forgive me I seem to have mistaken you for a grown up Mr Hailsworth not a child, and I have no intention of placing my faith and Denver Carrington's future in the hands of a child…Now I think you should leave." Alexis added turning towards the door, intent on opening it and kicking this prankster out when Ethan reached out and caught her hand.

Lifting it to his lips he pressed a kiss to her knuckles smirking over the top in a way that both annoyed and titillated her. "Because you interested me…No captivated…From the moment I first caught sight of you in that exhibit. Oh I knew Alexis Colby, I recognised you and your reputation preceded you, so when you went off to look at the paintings by yourself I followed. I just wanted to see if you lived up to the legend."

"Yet you didn't even introduce yourself, we barely spoke." Alexis cut in sharply, yet the memory of that night of the feeling of synchronicity and empathy was hard to shake and Alexis felt her cheeks heat slightly as Ethan stepped closer and she could feel the tantalising heat from his body.

"I followed you upstairs intending to talk to you…But then I saw you…really saw you." Ethan answered his dark eyes boring into hers, his gaze so intense it caused goosebumps to prickle on Alexis's skin.

"You were just standing there lost in concentration, you seemed so engrossed, so entranced, such a tantalising contradiction in a woman one moment a core of steel and the next soft…and beautiful…so beautiful. I knew then I needed more than just to talk to you but there was too many complications at the exhibition so I left."

By complications Alexis assumed Ethan meant Dex, yet even the thought of her distant lover didn't provide the dash of cold water that it should have and Alexis couldn't help but be flattered by Ethan's words. "That was a lot of effort and all to get my attention."

"It was worth it." Ethan insisted. "You are a woman with many men vying for your attention, I had to do something to stand out from the crowd." He added pausing to smile smugly as he lifted a hand and traced his fingertips over Alexis's bare shoulder. "And I just knew you wouldn't be able to resist a mystery to solve."

She should pull away. Alexis was used to being the one in control, even when she was being pursued, yet there was something hypnotic about that voice, and those dark eyes some how able to seem both new and familiar at the same time. Yet as Ethan bent down his eyes locked on her lips Alexis seemed to shake herself out of the spell he had cast on her, her hand raising to rest on his chest stopping him in his tracks.

"And that is the whole story, you went through all this just because you wanted to get my attention?"

"You don't believe me?" Ethan answered teasingly ignoring Alexis's narrowing gaze. "Surely you can't doubt that I want you Alexis, you can't doubt your own appeal?"

Flustered by his closeness and his teasing Alexis needed space to think, to regroup, if Ethan was playing a game with her he was an extremely good actor…Alexis should know being a more than proficient one herself. Yet she couldn't take the risk that Ethan was merely toying with her. "I invited you here to discuss business Mr Hailsworth not myself."

"They are one and the same, aren't they?" Ethan countered ignoring Alexis's scowl as he forged on. "Oh I don't mean any disrespect Alexis, quite the opposite in fact, your business skills impress me they always have but they are only part of my fascination with you…Charm and charisma and more than a dash of ruthlessness, it is a heady combination for a man like me, seductive and deadly!"

"And nothing at all like yourself." Alexis snorted sharply, yet instead of being offended Ethan just smirked.

"Who ever invented that tosh about opposites attracting eh?" Ethan replied softly his dark eyes glinting and for a moment Alexis couldn't shake off a sense of dejavu.

"I think we are pretty evenly matched and we have more in common than you could believe…perhaps in time when we've gotten to know each other a little better then you will come to trust me…" Ethan answered softly.

"Better…Intimately as it were?" Alexis echoed her own smug grin finding its mirror on Ethan's face as he once again offered her his hand.

"Dinner first!" Ethan insisted his tone brooking no argument. "Afterwards we can commence negotiations for everything else."

Laughing his arrogant presumption and impudent suggestive drawl Alexis surprised herself when she accepted his hand, allowing him to tug her towards the door, her smaller hand seeming to fit perfectly in Ethan's larger grip.

After all it was only dinner…And flirting…that was a game Alexis was a master at, it didn't need to go any further Alexis just needed to keep Ethan interested long enough for him to help her secure the deal for Denver Carrington, once that was settled she would find a way to let him down gently. In the meantime it was only a bit of fun and her battered ego could do with the soothing balm of some flattering from a handsome and mysterious suitor.

What harm could it really do?

Part 5b):

Adam Carrington was not a patient man yet when it came to pursing things he wanted he could find reserves of untapped patience.

At the moment from the outside Adam already had everything a man could possibly want, a beautiful girlfriend, wealth unimaginable, a strong tight knit family and he was the senior vice president and acting head of day to day Colby Co operations whilst Alexis was down under. And yet it was a charade…all fleeting and Adam knew how easily these things could be taken from him.

Dana was already distancing herself emotionally from him, most mornings Adam awoke to an empty bed, his lover already dressing for the day their only interactions now a stiff and awkward good morning or good night. It was as though their relationship was slowly sickening and neither knew what medicine might revive it. Instead all they could do was stand by listless and ineffectual as the distance between them grew. Adam loved Dana, probably more than he had loved any woman but somehow it wasn't enough, her love couldn't assuage the ache Adam had deep inside him for more.

Always more.

The wealth and the family ties, along with his position at Colby Co were transient too…They could all be taken from him if Adam failed to live up to the responsibilities and image of the Carrington family…Something Adam unfortunately already had more than a little experience with.

Was that why he was clinging to the vestiges of his relationship with Dana?

She loved him, of that Adam was certain. Dana hadn't turned him away despite having every reason to do so when he had turned up at her doorstep at the edge of his tether and on the run from the authorities. She had taken in him, had done her best to patch him back together but that was a task far too big for her. In the end it had been Adam's decision to come home and face the music, to try and fix his problems. Dana had come along to hold his hand, to lend him her support and then somehow they had ended up falling back into a relationship and for a while things had seemed to work.

Yet were the memories of a past romance, gratefulness and guilt really the best foundation for a new marriage? Yes Adam loved Dana, he probably always would, but was he in love with her or she with him?

Adam wished he could have said yes on both counts but somehow he doubted that it was true…not anymore.

Yet instead of facing the situation and talking about it…rather than accept that once again he had managed to mess up his love life just like every other area of his life Adam was doing his level best to avoid having to face facts. He buried himself in managing every little detail at Colby Co, determined that in this at least he could do something right for once.

Of course attending to every little detail meant Adam had to work hard, long hours, hours that kept him at the office and out of the house. Dinner was now taken at the office, delivered to Alexis's office, which Adam had borrowed, by a sulking Mark, whose impertinence was now bordering on insubordination. There were times that Adam longed to simply fire the mouthy secretary but thoughts of his mother's displeasure kept that impulse in check.

Mark had lasted months with Alexis, a record that had given him near legendary status amongst the secretary pool in Denver. No doubt wherever Mark went that secretaries and their kind socialised he was treated like some sort of god. Perhaps that had led to the uppity young man developing the attitude? Since he never let a moment pass without rolling his eyes at Adam's commands or generally exuding the air that he clearly considered assisting Adam to be beneath him. The little side comments alone were pushing Adam towards the edge and if Mark asked one more time if he wanted his bottle warming then Adam wasn't sure he could restrain himself.

Adam was so engrossed in plotting ways that he could accidentally fire his mother's secretary that he was barely looking where he was going and it wasn't until his arms were suddenly full of pretty blonde…pretty pregnant blonde…heavily pregnant…

"Oh sorry." The blonde stuttered and Adam felt the breath catch in his throat.

"That's quite alright…I'm Adam."

Smiling politely the young lady accepted the hand Adam offered, shaking it quickly before dropping it and glancing down the stairs. "I'm Jessica…Jess to my friends."

"Are you on your way to breakfast?" Adam enquired politely falling into step beside her unable to tear his gaze from her stomach. It was like a shot across his bows.

The baby…That's when everything had started to go wrong…Loosing his son had made everything else in his life seem pointless. As though all the things he had been working for suddenly had no meaning anymore since he had no one else to pass them onto. Since then Adam had simply been going through the motions, existing not living, throwing himself into the next mad scheme in the hope that would bring him the fulfilment he craved.

"Yes but I guess part of me is still a little thrown…this house is so big and well I guess I am a little out of my depth, Mr and Mrs Carrington have been so kind letting me stay but I still feel..."

"Out of place?" Adam could sympathise. "Awkward…Uncomfortable?"

Laughing Jess nodded. "All of the above actually…In fact…now this is a little embarrassing I can't even remember where the dining room is and I was hanging around the stairs hoping to bump into one of the staff."

"And instead you got me!" Adam snorted sharing Jess's nervous laughter. "Well Milady allow me to escort you to the dining room, otherwise next time the next person who bumps into you might end up bouncing you down those stairs instead."

Laughing again Jess slipped her hand through the crook of Adam's elbow falling into step with him, the pair of them oblivious to the envious blue eyes that followed them silently.

Part 6 a)

Dex Dexter had always hated Dexter lodge. The former home of the Dexter estate manager had years before his birth become the lodgings for the family albatross or as she was more commonly known Great Aunt Josephine. As a child he could remember being forcibly wheeled out every Sunday after church and forced to sit between his parents as they paid their obligatory weekly visit to Aunt Josephine.

It was an experience that had stuck in his mind and not in a good way.

Sitting their stuffed in his Sunday best, bored out of his mind, but Dex wasn't allowed to go and play whilst they forced down the weak tea and stale sugarless rock cakes and made polite conversation. Conversation that mostly involved Aunt Josephine lecturing on at length about exactly what was wrong with them and everyone else in their little community, all whilst she fixed Dex in her eye not allowing him so much as a fidget before picking on him as well.

Dex had never been able to shake off the feeling that Aunt Josephine hadn't exactly approved of him.

As a child Dex had turned that feeling into bitterness and resentment, resentment that his father had forced them to go visit the old witch in the first place and bitterness that the old woman seemed to pick on him for no good reason. Over the years that resentment and bitterness had evolved into little acts of rebellion or sabotage.

If on the Sunday Dex had been forced to listen at length about Aunt Josephine's surely prize winning vegetables then during the week he would enact his revenge somehow. As a young child this involved peeing on the lettuce or accidentally slipping weed killer into the watering can when Aunt Josephine forced him to make himself useful. Once he had even managed to capture a wild rabbit and slipping out of his room after dusk he had biked over to the lodge and set the rabbit free inside the protected garden that housed the vegetables raised solely for competition.

Those little acts of retribution were the only thing that kept Dex sane as he sat bored out of his brain ignoring the constant stream of complaints and criticisms coming his way. Yet no matter how much he tried to keep the smirk from his face Dex couldn't shake the feeling that Great aunt Josephine could somehow sense that he was to blame for these little misfortunes. It was as though the woman had a sixth sense for people misbehaving.

So the fact that he was once again dressed up and sitting on that uncomfortable couch, his son dressed in his best sitting contentedly between Dex and Marin, sucking on his thumb thankfully oblivious to the tension, did not sit easily with Dex. That he was here to ask for the old curmudgeons help was nearly unthinkable and Dex was stumped if he could think of how to even broach the subject.

So instead they fell back into the old pattern, sipping tepid tea, eating stale flavourless cake, listening to Aunt Josephine drone on about some woman from the church who had dared to deviate from the precise flower arranging plans that Aunt Josephine had drawn up for the parish back in 1957.

"So when are you going to tell me the real reason you are here boy?"

Startled by actually being spoken to instead of at Dex almost sloshed the tea out of his cup. "I was visiting Marin and I thought I should visit…"

"You visit me of your own free will? You never bothered before, even as a child you had to be forced to come." Aunt Josephine snorted her slight blue eyes narrowing in suspicion. "If you are here after money then you can forget it…"

"I don't need money." Dex snapped cutting off his aunt probably for the first time in her life…or at least in living memory. "And you're right I wouldn't have willing come to see you." Dex added bluntly ignoring his sister's groan.

"Good going Dex."

"Well at least he is finally being honest." Aunt Josephine snapped her blue eyes narrowing. "So what do you want Farnsworth?" She added, drawling slightly over his given name, a name that she knew Dex disliked and never used. She was needling him directly but Dex refused to rise to that particular bait.

"I received a letter from Sam at the will reading and I was hoping you would be able to make sense of it." Dex replied cautiously, if the old woman really was clueless then Dex had no desire to hand her that ammunition but it seemed those fears were unfounded as Aunt Josephine sank back against the cushions smirking.

"Oh finally told you did he?" She snorted taking a sip of her tea. "It was about time."

Glancing across at Marin Dex shot her glare to hold her tongue, the last thing he wanted was to reveal their bluff. "Yes but I was hoping you would be able to fill me in on how…why it happened."

"I would have thought with your reputation you would have been well aware of how!" Aunt Josephine sniffed in disgust. "As for the why…Well I suppose some people with less moral character might have said it was inevitable the two of them alone in that big house, well I knew it for what it was disgusting!"

Clenching his jaw Dex feigned his expression to something akin to agreement whilst inwardly he strained at the bit. "All alone in the house?"

"Of course Sam was off at war, the poor boy had no idea what was really going on with that wife of his. I told him from the start not to marry her, her father was the foreman at Dexter Mining, presumptive social climbers the lot of them. Well unfortunately for your father that was the first time he ignored my advice and it ended up costing him." Aunt Josephine pontificated sniffing in disgust.

"But even I didn't think…I mean it is unthinkable…her own father in law…"

The air was knocked out of him as if someone had just thumped him straight to the stomach…Of all the possible scenarios that one had never ever occurred to him…That the grandfather who Dex had admired, who he had aspired to be more like was actually not his grandfather but his natural father…

"Wait Grandpa Farnsworth!" Marin spluttered exclamation cut Aunt Josephine's rant off. "Dex isn't my brother…he's…he's my uncle?" She added unable to believe what she was hearing.

"Yes…You mean you didn't…You tricked me boy!" Aunt Josephine hissed her temper visible from the way her pale cheeks flushed angrily. "How dare you come into my house and try your cheap tricks on me?"

"Because I needed to know the truth, the real truth." Dex answered distractedly still unable to process this news completely.

He was still a Dexter and yet somehow this revelation seemed worse than any other he could have imagined. That the man who he had turned to when his world collapsed, the man who he had trusted and respected all others, was his father and had lied to Dex his entire life.

"I can't…I need…Marin look after Jack…I just need…" Dex blustered staggering out of the house unable to think, unable to stand that house and that woman's presence a moment longer…His mind shutting down as the childish impulse to run took over him. Getting behind the wheel of his car Dex put the accelerator to the floor, kicking up clouds of dust as he sped off down the drive.

Perhaps if he got far enough away from this place then he could also escape the terrible knowledge that now echoed round in his mind…He was still a Dexter…He was Farnsworth Dexter Jnr, illegitimate offspring of Farnsworth Dexter Snr and his son's wife, the family's secret shame.

Part 6b):

Blake Carrington was trying to work…

Trying being the operative word as no matter how hard he tried to concentrate but try as he could to concentrate on the paperwork in front of him. Blake was tired as sleep had proven hard to come by and what little he had managed had been disturbed by another one of those prank calls. Yet it wasn't his exhaustion that was really bothering him, instead Blake couldn't stop mulling over something Jackson had said.

"_You two sure are a piece of work, you can't live together, you can't live apart…Alexis gets just as jealous as you do Blake she's just much better at hiding it, well from you at least."_

Alexis jealous.

Shaking his head Blake struggled to believe that was really the case. Yes once upon a time Blake would have believed Alexis could have been jealous, she had certainly done enough over the years to try and destroy his second marriage, but was that really because she had been jealous or was it that she just couldn't stand to see him happy when she wasn't?

Yet no there was no woman in his life right now so why would Alexis have any cause to be jealous?

True when they had first broken up and Blake had resumed his relationship with Krystle, then it might have made sense but Blake had broken things off with Krystle months ago now and he had told Alexis that he loved her and…

Surely he had told Alexis things were over with Krystle?

Wracking his memory Blake tried to remember actually saying those words, and worryingly came up blank…Had he really forgotten something so important?

But even if he hadn't said those exact words Alexis must have realised, Blake reassured himself. After all he wasn't the sort of man too pursue a woman whilst still involved with another…

Yet even as he made that declaration Blake felt a sour note of reality enter his thoughts, he had asked Krystle to marry him in that clinic whilst he was still technically engaged to Alexis. So was it so far fetched for Alexis to believe that he was doing the same again, only the other way around? Did she really think he had kept Krystle around as a second choice just in case Alexis didn't ever reciprocate his feelings?

To Blake such an idea seemed preposterous…but from Alexis's perspective how would she know any different?

Krystle still lived in the same house as him, albeit in different bedrooms, they still co-parented their child, Krystle still acted as his escort to functions and from an outsider's viewpoint they probably still looked like a couple.

Groaning at his own idiocy Blake could only imagine the mixed messages he had been sending. Declaring his love and acting jealous and possessive one moment all whilst appearing in California with Krystle on his arm. And as long as Krystle remained in the mansion Alexis would always be wondering. After all not many men would be able to resist a pretty ex-wife who clearly was still in love with him, when the woman Blake did want was so far from his grasp.

Alexis had once declared they could no longer be together because she couldn't trust him anymore. Trust not love was their problem, it had always been their problem, and Blake had to admit he had been doing a terrible job of trying to win back Alexis's trust. Every time they seemed to be making progress his own uncontrollable jealous reared its ugly head. The way he had behaved over Jackson, the accusations and vile names he had levied at Alexis, even if the situation had been too close to his memories of Roger Grimes, it still didn't give him the right to have reacted like that.

Yet the greatest tragedy in all this was that Blake knew even if he promised to try harder, to work at regaining Alexis's trust, to not fly off the handle with jealousy but listen to Alexis's explanation first; even then he couldn't guarantee he wouldn't make the same mistakes.

Was his jealous nature too deeply engrained? Or was it simply that he had never faced and addressed Alexis's infidelity from their first marriage. At the time Blake had simply forced that pain away, locking it deep inside himself because facing it head on would have overwhelmed him and he had children to raise and a company to run…and Carrington men weren't renowned for dealing with their emotional problems.

She had hurt him deeply back then. Even now so many years removed Blake couldn't bear to open the seal on that particular well. It had been easier to simply bury the pain and build anew on top. Yet as any architect would tell you a building is only as strong as its foundations. In the years after his divorce Blake hadn't had a relationship that lasted longer than a few months until he met Krystle. She had given him hope that perhaps he could finally move forward; could forget his first wife with a woman that was as close to her opposite as it was possible to find.

Yet despite Krystle's attempts to dig foundations for their relationship, to build it sturdily, Blake had resisted her attempts to break through into his depths. Was that why their marriage had been so close to collapsing on numerous occasions? Had it only lasted as long as it had due to luck and the tether of Krystina holding them together?

And if by some miracle Alexis and he did reconcile were they doomed to repeat the same mistakes, if they didn't first deal with the lingering consequences of their first marriage, acknowledge and accept the part they both played in its disintegration?

Running his hand through his silver hair Blake clenched his fingers around the soft strands.

All of this introspection was mute any way. Alexis was with Dexter, a man who adored her, and let her trample all over him. True Dex seemed to struggle with fidelity but now he was a father…Blake knew only too well the dramatic change becoming a parent could affect. Adam's birth had given him a sense of purpose and drive to succeed that had astounded Blake at the time, he had always been an ambitious man, but all of a sudden he wasn't just doing all this hard work for himself but for his family.

No Dexter had to be a damned fool if he threw all that away…and despite his failings being a fool was not among them.

It was hopeless then…

The shrill sound of the phone snapped Blake out of his self-indulgent wallowing.

"Hello Blake Carrington speaking."

"Good evening Mr Carrington I am Nurse Bernard calling from the Princess Grace Hospital Centre Monaco I was hoping to talk to a Mrs Alexis Carrington…"

Frowning Blake felt the hairs on the back his neck prickle. Why was someone phoning here for Alexis, why was anyone phoning for a Mrs Alexis Carrington from a Monaco hospital at all? "Mrs Carrington no longer lives at this address and she is currently Alexis Colby, may I ask what this call is in connection to?"

"I am sorry but I am only really allowed to disclose that information to Mrs Ca..Colby but this is somewhat urgent, we are trying to find her as she is listed as the emergency contact for one of our ICU patients."

"What patient?" Blake demanded the prickles of fear now more substantial.

There was a sizeable pause on the other end of the phone and the sound of rustling paperwork. "I believe the patient is listed as her daughter."

His throat dry Blake could only croak out one word, his world crashing down around him. "Amanda."


	10. Episode 10: Amanda

Part 1a):

Alexis Colby couldn't sleep, she couldn't even bear to close her eyes for more than a few seconds…The things she saw when she did were probably enough to rob her of sleep forever.

So instead she stared out into the gloom, her eyes struggling in vain to pick out shapes in the vast blackness that lingered oppressively just outside the small window of the aeroplane. It didn't even look like they were really moving, without the sight of passing clouds or even land beneath them Alexis had no real evidence that they were getting any closer to their destination. Only the slow moving hands of her Rolex gave her any sense of getting closer, and even that seemed to move deliberately slowly as if taunting her.

Time ticking away…Time that her daughter didn't have…

What if it was too late already?

What if when this damn place finally arrived in Paris, and she was able to squeeze in a call to the hospital before her connecting flight, Amanda had already passed beyond her help?

Alexis knew deep in her bones she could never forgive herself, knowing as she did now that her baby daughter had lain hurt and broken on a hospital bed whilst her mother had been off…

She was a terrible mother.

A terrible person, if she had been where she was supposed to have been then she would have caught a flight hours ago instead of…

Just the thought of it now turned her stomach, she had been celebrating whilst her child was hurt and needing her. Yet at the time how could she have known? If she had had any inkling Alexis knew nothing on earth would have coerced her into accepting Ethan's invitation…

"_I believe a celebration is in order." Ethan's voice was low and teasing in Alexis's ear as he leant closer his dark eyes flickering along the length of her exposed neck. _

"_Didn't your mother ever teach you not to count your chickens until they hatch?" Alexis retorted softly but tersely unable to tear her own eyes away from the team of lawyers that were busily tidying up the final details, occasionally her gaze would flicker across the room to where representatives from the government and in particular Senator Roberts sat. _

"_My mother taught me many lessons in life." Ethan replied and Alexis could detect something less than his perfect control before that hint of bitterness seemed to vanish. "However I believe in my own ability, this deal is settled Alexis." _

_Yes but at what price? Alexis struggled to keep her gaze from drifting back to Senator Roberts. _

_The poor man looked broken and Alexis couldn't help the small pang of regret and she could only wonder what Ethan had used in order to force the man to cooperate. Clearly the same thought had crossed Jeff's mind as well as Alexis had endured her son-in-law's look of disgust. Poor Jeff simply didn't have the stomach for such things; he really was too much the idealist. Yet this time even Alexis felt a slight stirring of conscience, she had wanted the Senator's cooperation but she hadn't wanted him destroyed. _

"_What did you do?" She asked softly feeling Ethan's answering snort against her skin. _

"_I don't think you really want to know that Alexis…Besides plausible deniability and all that, besides if I told you I would never be able to let you out of my sight…not an unpleasant consequence I must admit." _

"_Oh one of you would quickly tire of I am sure." _

"_We could try it and see." Ethan teased her back and Alexis couldn't help the charmed smile that tugged at her lips. The man was smooth, a charmer, a playboy no doubt of that. _

_And as flattering as his attentions had been Alexis still had her real life waiting for her back home…Yet right now Alexis wasn't certain she was ready to go back and face that mess. _

_The last in a long series of fights with Dex still hung over her like a black cloud. True Dex hadn't outright accused her of cheating with Jackson or Blake or both but I he hadn't said he believed her either and that hurt considering the fact she had chosen to believe him over Angela when there was far more compelling evidence to accuse him. _

_And Alexis knew only too well what Blake thought…the look of disgust and vindication on his face hurt, it hurt her deeply as had his cruel and biting words. He thought she was sleeping around, Dex suspected the same and Alexis could have accepted their anger and accusations if she had actually cheated! That for practically the first time in her life she was innocent and had actually been living the lifestyle of a nun by comparison with her earlier years, grated on her. _

_Perhaps getting involved in serious relationships in the first place was a mistake, reconciling with Blake had only led to heartbreak, letting Dex back into her life and her home had only led to confusion and jealousy. _

_Perhaps if she was going to be accused and punished like she had already cheated then she should at least have the fun of doing so? _

"_You know you want to stay a little longer…all this work and effort deserves a proper celebration and I have just the place. I have a beach house a little down the coast, it's secluded and has the most wonderful sunsets." Ethan tempted her as his hand rubbed down her arm. "Stay for the weekend." _

"_Unfortunately I need to fly back to Denver, Denver Carrington might be now on an even keel but I still have Colby Co and..." _

"_And the idea of staying here with me frightens you, that much I can tell." Ethan cut in earning him a glare for his troubles. "I get that but I must admit I am surprised that Alexis Colby..." _

"_I am not frightened, not by you or any one." Alexis spat back temper flashing to her cheeks. _

"_Then prove it." Ethan baited. "Have dinner with me tonight, just the two of us at my house, then if you still want to leave…" He added smugly his tone suggesting that he clearly believed that to be impossible. "Call it me calling in one of my favours." _

"_Alright then Mr Hailsworth but I assure you now dinner is all we will be sharing!" _

"_Very well Alexis I always relish a challenge…" _

Closing her eyes as the memory of accepting that invitation seemed burnt into her retinas, Alexis wished as hard as she could that she could take it back But it was too late, the die was cast, it was to late to go back and undo things, all she could do now was move on…move and forget what had happened.

Forget what she had learnt.

One glance at her Rolex and a glance out the window at the slowly brightening sky was enough to bring Alexis back to herself.

Soon she would be by her daughter's side.

Soon she would be thousands of miles from her lapse in judgement and no one needed to know about it, no one, least of all Blake Carrington.

Part 1b):

Blake Carrington was angry.

No correct that he was beyond angry he was fuming, he was so furious that the next damn doctor he saw he was liable to shake them by the lapels of their pristine white jackets until they saw stars.

"I am sorry it is immediate family only…"

Just hearing those words going around in his head Blake fought the urge to punch something long and hard.

"But she is my daughter dammit!"

Blake had appealed to anyone who would listen but the medical staff were polite and apologetic but refused to budge asking time after time for proof of paternity that Blake couldn't provide. They were being deliberately cagey and from the number of uniformed officers around Blake couldn't help but become suspicious. Just how had his daughter been injured exactly, and why was everyone being so obstructive?

For the first time since discovering Amanda was his biological daughter Blake found himself cursing Alexis and her need for secrecy that had meant she hadn't listed him on Amanda's birth certificate. He cursed himself for not pursuing his original idea all those years ago and undergoing a paternity test. Yet after Amanda had confided in him Rosalind's confirmation that he was her father Blake would have felt rather churlish asking for additional proof.

So instead he was stuck here in the waiting room, unable to see his daughter, unable to find out anything more conclusive about her condition than she was critical and in ICU, until Alexis arrived.

What was taking her so long?

He had called her hotel several times himself, had left messages for her to call him urgently. Then when he had rushed off to catch the first available flight Fallon had promised him faithfully to arrange everything and to keep phoning her mother until she got through.

Blake's first action on arriving in Europe had been to phone home to check when Alexis would be arriving only to be horrified as Fallon was forced to admit she still hadn't spoken to her mother. Fallon had eventually managed to reach Jeff though who had promised to do what he could to find Alexis after she had apparently gone out to dinner to celebrate and then had not returned to the hotel.

Dwelling on what or who Alexis might be doing to celebrate was not something Blake could worry about right now. That his ex-wife was apparently falling back into bad habits...no he couldn't be certain of that and jumping to conclusions hadn't gotten him so far before. Perhaps just this once he could try and give Alexis the benefit of the doubt? Besides who Alexis slept with or if she slept with anyone was no longer his concern, Amanda was his only concern.

What if Alexis didn't make it in time?

What if he didn't get to see their little girl in time?

Rubbing his hands over his tired face Bake tried to push such negative thoughts away. Alexis would be here. She had to be. Yet Blake couldn't help but wonder if he would ever be able to find a way to forgive Alexis if she wasn't?

"Blake!" The unexpected sound of his name jarred Blake from his bitter musing as his head jerked up to see an exhausted looking Alexis rushing into the waiting room and his heart gave a momentary rush at seeing her before the reason for her long delay and what it could have cost them pushed back into his thoughts.

"Where is she…how is she…what have the doctors said…"

"I don't know." Blake replied sharply. "I don't know because they won't tell me anything…they won't tell me anything about my own child because her mother was too selfish to put my name on her birth certificate!"

"What but that's ridiculous." Alexis spluttered, of all the welcomes from Blake, this barely restrained anger and bitterness was not among them.

Choosing to bite his tongue rather than say anything else he might regret later, something that might cause Alexis to kick him out of their daughter's bedside Blake got to his feet and began the familiar walk down to the nurse's station. Now Alexis was here Blake Carrington was finally going to get some answers.

Part 2a)

There was no sound in the room save the rasp of the ventilator and it was as unspoken understanding that existed between them that neither would be the one to break the uneasy détente that existed between them. Alexis had taken the seat by Amanda's bedside leaving Blake nowhere to go other than to take the place by the only window and wait.

Wait for news.

Wait for a miracle that seemed to grow more distant with every hour that passed and the readings on the machines grew weaker.

Wait for answers as to how their beautiful little girl had ended up in this state.

Both consumed by their own guilt their own failings as parents and with the vestige of their earlier argument lingering between them Blake and Alexis sat in stony silence. Blake still bitter about being forced to wait for so long and Alexis unable to completely push that terrible new knowledge from her mind completely even as she stared at her daughter's still form. Yet perhaps it was best Blake seemed angry with her, Alexis doubted she could have stomached his comfort right now, not without the sickening guilt crawling over her skin.

Finally as the sun began to set a young doctor disturbed their silent vigil and he didn't need to say a word, his open expression said enough.

There was only one thing left to ask. "Isn't there anything more you can do?" Blake's voice was rough from lack of use but eve so there was no denying the command in his voice.

"Your daughter is already being ventilated Mr Carrington." The doctor replied in his heavily accented English. "But the results of the tests are not promising, what little higher brain function there was is deteriorating. Believe me if there was anything more we could do we would already be doing it…"

"But she could still get better?" Alexis's question was so softly spoken that for a moment Blake didn't even realise she had broken her self-imposed silence until the doctor answered her.

"With every hour that passes it becomes less likely…You should prepare yourself, eventually you might be faced with the decision to remove artificial ventilation…"

"You mean switch of the machines?" Alexis cut in her emerald eyes widening in horror turning to Blake for support. "No we couldn't."

"Absolutely not!" Blake echoed his dark eyes darkening further with anger. "We will not be hastening our daughter's demise!"

"That is your choice but I am merely making you aware of the possibility in the meantime we will do everything we can to ensure Amanda doesn't suffer." The young doctor replied softly hovering on the threshold glancing between the two parents. For two people so in sync that they could communicate with a single glance he had never seen such distance, the few feet from one side of the room to the other might as well have been a gaping canyon.

"I will leave you in peace; I will send a nurse to check on you. If you need anything…" He trailed off shaking his head sadly as he glanced at the beautiful young woman in the bed, her lovely face surprisingly unmarked despite the horrendous nature of her car accident. He could only wonder what had spurred such a lovely young creature, who if the eyewitnesses accounts were correct, had driven her own car off of the cliff…

Such a damn waste the doctor thought to himself, shaking his head as he shut the door behind him.

Part 2b)

"_It isn't good news…"_

Setting down the phone Fallon could hear her father's words repeating in her mind as she retook her seat at the breakfast table. Part of her unable to decide how she should be feeling about this new turn of events. It was confusing. Amanda was her baby sister and yet actually Fallon had spent more time living under the same roof as Jackson than she had her own sister.

Other than having the same parents and sharing similar DNA Fallon had struggled to find anything that bonded her and Amanda, well other than a similar taste in men if Michael Colane was any indication.

Right now Fallon knew she should feel distraught the same way she had when they had first received news about the oil rig explosion that Steven had been caught up in. Yet it wasn't the same, Steven was the sibling she had grown up with, they had a shared bond forged by growing up side by side and that wasn't something that could be forced.

Yes she was upset and worried for her sister, but in the same way she would a family friend. It was more the impact on her parents that affected Fallon on an emotional level. Her father had sounded brittle and exhausted on the phone. Clearly he hadn't slept since receiving that first phone call despite Fallon having arranged his hotel accommodation for him…and Alexis…

Clearly her parents hadn't so much as checked into the hotel because despite her father's exhaustion Fallon was certain he would have commented about her arrangements…

Still he could hardly take her too much to task it wasn't like she was forcing them to share a bed, the presidential suite had two bedrooms. If they chose her parents could come and go without having to interact at all. However if they should change their minds, being merely a living room apart should make that choice a little easier.

"Was that the phone, is there any news?"

Startled by the sudden interruption Fallon turned to reply, a cutting remark on her tongue that died there when she caught sight of the genuine sympathy and concern on Jackson's face which was missing his usual cocky smirk.

"She's not responding to treatment, they have her on a ventilator and the doctor's don't hold out much hope she will improve." Fallon answered threading her napkin between her fingers. "Daddy promised to phone if there was any change but I think we are talking hours or days no longer."

"Fallon I am so sorry for your family if there is anything I can do to make things easier…If you want to fly over to Monaco, I mean I might not be of much use but I can help relay messages or perhaps help mind the children?"

"Thank you." Fallon replied swallowing down her own helping of humble pie.

"I appreciate that but I think it's best if I stay here, Mummy and Daddy have enough to deal with without having to worry about other people crowding them and Krystle picked the children up this morning, Jeff is flying back today and it would good for them all to be together…Jackson I just want to say…that is I mean…" Fallon closed her eyes taking a deep breath for adding. "I'm sorry about before I over reacted."

Jackson's amused snort and smirk greeted her when she finally opened her eyes.

"I am trying to apologise here…"

"Yes I guessed that." Jackson answered glibly. "You're not used to it but you're not doing a bad job."

"I jumped to conclusions…" Fallon carried on as if Jackson hadn't interrupted, glaring at him slightly when he continued to chuckle at her expense. "You know this would be a lot easier if you weren't laughing at me!"

Laughing outright at Fallon's indignant pout Jackson moved to take the seat beside her. "I am not!"

"Oh really Mr Hobbs then what is this…!" Fallon teased reaching forward to poke Jackson's dimple her pulse jumping when Jackson caught her fingers and pressed a playful kiss to the tips.

His cobalt blue eyes drawing her in….

"Miss Fallon!" Lin's almost panicked tone jarred Fallon and the pair all but jumped apart as Lin stepped into the room followed immediately by a screaming infant carried by a scowling Marin Dexter who glanced between Fallon and Jackson with a knowing look.

Then dumping a screaming Jack into Lin's surprised hands Marin smoothed back her hair before demanding from the still stunned Fallon and Jackson. "Alright so which one of you two lovebirds knows where the hell my useless excuse of a brother has disappeared to?"

Part 2c):

There was music playing soft and low in the background. French doors were wide open and the soft drapes danced lightly in the breeze just as the couple on the terrace swayed to the music.

"_Hmmmm I can't tell you how pleased I am you agreed to come tonight." _

_Smiling to herself Alexis giggled as Ethan turned her in a circle and then spun her slightly. Tottering slightly on her heels Alexis couldn't help but laugh as he pulled her back in and she had to stop herself from crashing into him by gripping hold of the lapels of his jacket. _

_She hadn't drunk that much champagne surely? _

_True she had had most of the second bottle whilst Ethan had only a glass or two…. _

"_Well you didn't exactly give me much choice did you Mr Hailsworth?" Alexis teased back biting her lip as Ethan smirked and reached up to brush the hair out of her face, tucking a curl behind her ear. _

"_And give up the chance at finally having you all to myself?" Ethan retorted sliding his hand down to the small of her back and pull an unresisting Alexis flush against him. "And the night is still young…" _

"_Ahhh." Alexis sighed raising a hand to stop Ethan's lips as they began their descent. "But I am not and I need my beauty sleep…" _

"_If you become any more beautiful the angels themselves would weep from envy." _

_Laughing at such blatant flattery Alexis slapped his chest, pushing Ethan away with a shake of her head. "You have no shame Mr Hailsworth…Now as fun as tonight has been I really should be heading back to my hotel." _

"_So soon?" _

"_It is late and I need to be heading back to Denver in the morning." Alexis argued weaving slightly on her heels as she made her way back inside the house and scanned the room for her belongings. Not that she needed her wrap…her skin felt warm enough that even her current clothes felt excessive and itchy… _

_Perhaps it was the heat or perhaps the company but Alexis felt a familiar feeling curling low in her stomach, her nipples hardened against the silk of her dress. When she got back to her hotel room perhaps she should place a call to Denver; see if Dex was home and if he wanted to help her work off her frustration and if Dex wasn't available there was always… _

"_Well why the rush to head back to Denver?" _

"_I have my family and Colby Co…Not to mention I doubt that Dex would approve of my spending the night here…" Alexis began reaching for her wrap surprised when Ethan snatched it out of her hand and threw it back down on the sofa. _

"_So don't tell him!" Ethan insisted closing the distance between them until Alexis backed up against the sofa. "I am very discrete, and Dexter is thousands of miles away…." _

"_Ethan I have to go." Alexis insisted frowning slightly as the room seemed to tilt before her gaze, her protests falling on deaf ears as Ethan pressed his advantage, his mouth suddenly on hers as Alexis struggled to get free. _

_Yet the longer he kissed her the more difficult it became to focus…to remember why this was such a bad idea…Alexis found herself relaxing into his kiss, her sense of guilt flying out the window as Ethan's hands began to explore her body and her lust grew. Kissing him back with an equal passion Alexis barely remembered to pause long enough to breathe but when she did, pulling back for a second the room around her seemed to warp, the colours seemed to sharpen the music no longer seemed to be softly playing in the background but a pulsing living thing. _

"_What did you…" Alcohol had never made her feel like this…that hadn't been just champagne. _

_The sensation of lips along her neck made her gasp her skin felt a hundred times more sensitive and Alexis could feel the answering rush of heat between her thighs. _

"_I just put our champagne on Ice my dear." Ethan's voice was low and mocking as he unzipped her dress. "It should provide us with an entertaining evening…" _

_Groaning Alexis arched against his hands, parting her thighs willingly as Ethan's fingers slid into her underwear. God this was wrong and if she really wanted to leave she could have made Ethan stop, but her skin was burning and she wanted him…wanted him more desperately than she had ever wanted another man before… _

"Alexis!"

Bolting upright in her chair Alexis almost slid out of it, her only saving grace Blake's strong hand on her shoulder.

"Are you alright? You seemed to be having some sort of nightmare, you were twitching and moaning in your sleep."

Swallowing as she wiped the back of her hand across her forehead Alexis couldn't meet Blake's gaze, the look of genuine concern made her stomach clench in knots. "I'm fine…It's just this place and everything."

Nodding Blake watched as Alexis tried to compose herself, his concern growing as the hand wiping her brow seemed to shake. "Here take this, it's just as vile as the coffee in Denver Memorial but its hot and sweet and strong." Blake insisted pressing his plastic cup into Alexis's hand before she could protest.

Taking the coffee Alexis took a sip, wincing when the black liquid was as foul as Blake reported. Yet it gave Alexis the necessary time to compose herself and pull herself back from the memories of that night…No she would never think about it again…Resting her gaze on Amanda's still form, the only noise the steady mechanical sound of the ventilator Alexis allowed the present to ground her.

"Has there been any change?"

"Nothing good." Blake answered sadly his eyes narrowing as Alexis continued to avoid his gaze. "Look Alexis I am sorry I snapped at you before…I was just tired and worried and…"

"You were right."

Of all the answers that was not one Blake Carrington was expecting and he stopped in the middle of his sentence to stare at Alexis in shock.

"I did keep Amanda from you Blake…I did it deliberately and I was wrong and I am so very sorry. Perhaps if I hadn't then we wouldn't be here now…" Alexis broke off her voice breaking slightly. "This is all my fault."

"No!" Blake insisted surprising Alexis and himself with his vehemence when only on the flight over he had been cursing and blaming Alexis himself. Yet if he was honest with himself no one could have predicted what would have happened if he been involved in Amanda's whole life. He had been involved in raising Fallon and she turned out just as wild until motherhood had calmed her slightly.

Pulling his chair over from the window Blake slumped in it exhausted; some of his anger dissipating, as Blake suddenly felt too old and too tired to hold on to it any longer. "I get it."

"Wha…"

"Why you did it." Blake clarified lifting his gaze to meet Alexis's.

"It was your pound of flesh." He added catching the conformation in Alexis's eyes before she could speak it. "I knew it from the moment I first suspected the truth and yes I was angry that you kept her from me but I was more angry that you refused to admit it, but I never had to wonder why you did it."

"You didn't?"

Sighing Blake rubbed his hands across his face. "It was your way of evening the scales. I had taken Fallon and Steven from you and so you did the same with Amanda."

"That doesn't make it right." Alexis added her gaze now locked on their youngest child. "I shouldn't have used her like that. It was selfish and wrong…"

"And I'm just as guilty. If you were wrong to use Amanda then ergo I was wrong to have done the same thing, we are equally guilty in this Alexis. I can't go blaming you and holding you accountable to a different standard than I do myself. Besides we can both sit here and blame each other for the rest of our lives and what will it change? Amanda will still be lying in that bed and no amount of blame or excuses will change that. It just doesn't seem to matter anymore who was more guilty or who started it…"

Turning to stare at Blake in amazement Alexis's gaze was locked on his face, yet there was no sign of pretence, Blake appeared to be sincere even though it was something Alexis had never expected the mighty Blake Carrington to verbalise, yet he appeared sincere…sincere and exhausted and hurting just like her.

Touched and more than a little worried, it was an instinctive impulse to reach out to him. Her hand finding his, her fingers sliding across his palm Alexis could feel Blake start in surprise but he didn't push her away and Alexis found his touch soft and reassuring.

Blake couldn't pretend he wasn't surprised but he accepted the gesture as it was meant, a simple act of solidarity, something he could draw strength from. Yet he would have been lying to himself if he ignored the way his pulse suddenly jumped, as his heart gave a leap, and hope that had been so trampled down it had almost been smothered suddenly flared up once more.

Perhaps it was a fool's hope, and there was no denying this was hardly the time or the place, but perhaps there was still one last chance for the two of them after all?

Part 3 a):

The apartment was dark, the sun was creeping below the horizon but its sole occupant preferred to sit in the dim light rather than waste money by putting on the electric; a bill that the current owner couldn't afford to pay…well not yet at any rate.

It was amazing how far it was possible to fall in such a short space of time. Once he had been a respected cornerstone of society, his neighbours looked up to him and the house was almost paid off early. Mainly due to the generous payments he received in addition to his paycheck for passing on information that might be useful to certain people, or for loosing evidence when required.

Everything had been almost perfect until he had been set up. God that had been galling convicted for a backhander he hadn't even taken. That had cost him everything he had spent his life building. The respect of his peers gone in a media slur campaign, the house he had paid for taken by his wife of twenty years in the divorce settlement, his two daughters refusing to take his calls and moving away from the state to start their life anew with the stigma of their father's conviction.

Then just when he was at his lowest Adam Carrington fell into his lap and suddenly his former associates found a use for him again. Life had taken an unexpected turn for the better, his release was secured and he had jumped into a social circle for whom corruption and backhanders were almost seen as standard business practice by some. Oh he had been treated still as an outsider but no one called him vile names to his face or vandalised his car with abusive graffiti.

The name Frank Dobson was once more being treated with some respect, he was a man to watch…

All he had to do to secure this golden new lifestyle was follow the plan and secure Denver Carrington for the Davenports. It had been so simple taking the weaknesses of the Carrington's and using them against them, playing one brother on his thirst for revenge and the other on his inferiority complex. Yet Frank knew he had made one fatal flaw, he had failed to see Alexis Colby for the threat that she was. He had been charmed by her smiles and good looks, had found her vulnerability arousing feelings of protectiveness in him. He had made the mistake of treating her like an ally rather than someone to be controlled and it had come back to bite him in the arse.

He had lost Denver Carrington to Alexis and then had failed spectacularly in his attempt to snatch it back from her and in the process had lost his position on the Colby Co board and the payments from the Davenports.

Money was tight.

The six-month lease paid for by Adam Carrington was about the run out, the line of credit extended to him was maxed out and bills kept coming. The option of selling his Colby Co shares; the only thing in his own name was not a road Frank wanted to go down until he had no other option. So Frank had fallen back on his own natural talents…

Extortion and blackmail.

At first he had planned to use Alexis's suicide attempt, after all Frank was certain Alexis would be prepared to pay to keep that news out of the media but the flaw in this plan was Adam's refusal to cooperate and get hold of the damn note for him. Plus Alexis would know it was him and Frank had made the mistake of underestimating Alexis once before. Considering some of the things Frank had heard about Alexis Colby over the years, short of killing them there was little Alexis wouldn't do when dealing with her enemies, it was in Frank's eyes one of her most admirable qualities, and one that they shared.

So caught between a rock and hard place it had seemed like his prayers were answered when he took the chance to pick up Dexter's trash. The stupid Wyoming cowboy hadn't even opened the letter. It had all been going perfectly and then Dexter disappeared from the face of the earth.

Resisting the urge to crumple the half of the letter into a ball Frank reassured himself that Dexter was bound to turn up, five million dollars was a perfectly reasonable sum to ask for covering up a family scandal of this magnitude…Yet what if Dexter was calling his bluff? Selling this story to the press would barely cover his existing debt and then he would be back to the beginning again.

No Dexter would be back in time, he had to be…

Part 3b)

"Excuse me Mr Carrington…Mrs Colby but there are some men here from the police, they'd like to talk to you." The doctor's voice was hesitant and apologetic as his gaze flickered between the exhausted parents. Neither had slept much if at all in the last forty-eight hours, and he was this close to banning them from the hospital and ordering them to get some sleep lest he have two more patients on his hands.

"Of course we'll be right out." Blake answered his voice rough from lack of use as he forced his sore body out of the uncomfortable chair, his muscles protesting as he stood at being forced to remain in the unnatural position for so long.

"What do you think the police want?" Alexis asked pulling Blake back to the present, and the look of bewilderment and panic on her face made Blake's heart ache.

Catching her hand once more in his Blake's squeezed it reassuringly. "We'll find out together." He added leading an unusually docile Alexis from the room. Following Amanda's doctor down the hallway the pair entered his office where two uniformed and one plains clothed police officer were waiting for them.

"Mr and Mrs Carrington?" The senior officer asked his blue eyes flickering over the pair before softening slightly in sympathy. "I can only imagine the ordeal you are both going through right now and thank you for agreeing to see us."

Nodding Blake didn't see the point in correcting them and it warmed his battered aching heart that Alexis didn't see the need either, instead they took the seats that the officers had set out for them.

"How can we be off assistance?"

Shifting awkwardly the plains clothes officer nodded at his companions waving them outside. When they were alone he opened his briefcase and pulled out a handful of file. "Mr Carrington have you ever heard of a man called Andrei Demeter?"

Surprised by the sudden change of subject Blake frowned shaking his head as he turned to Alexis who appeared equally puzzled.

"Your daughter never mentioned becoming involved with Mr Demeter?"

"No." Blake answered, his stomach churning. Just how much about the last three years of Amanda's life did he know? After Amanda had left Denver she had made it clear to her father that she was no longer interested in continuing their relationship. Yet clearly he wasn't the only one in the dark, he knew that Alexis had stayed in touch with Amanda even if it was a phonecall or postcard once every few months.

"Who is Mr Demeter?" Alexis asked the question that was on Blake's mind. "I haven't heard of him." Which considering Alexis knew everyone worth knowing took Bake by surprise.

"Andrei Demeter." The officer answered laying several photographs down on the desk. "On the surface is a Russian exile, an ex KGB agent, who was able to take advantage of the recent changes to the former USSR and acquire some valuable oil and gas fields at knock down prices."

Scowling Blake gazed down at the photographs of a well built closely shorn blonde haired man who could be considered handsome in a rugged dangerous way, the photographs had clearly been taken under surveillance as they had him pictured getting out of cars, leaving restaurants and one dated only two days before… Andrei standing on the back of a yacht but it was the person with him that really caught their attention; Amanda in a bikini gesturing wildly with her hands her beautiful familiar face contorted in what could only be anger about something.

"Of course that is the official story, we have had Mr Demeter under surveillance for the last two months after one of our informants identified him as being part of an Eastern European drug smuggling ring."

"How long were they together?" Alexis's tremulous question broke the solemn silence that had descended after that revelation.

"From what I understand your daughter was introduced to Mr Demeter at party little over six months ago, she moved into his villa a fortnight later."

A fortnight…barely time to cover the basics and certainly not enough time to get to know a man well enough to move in with him… Blake shook his head, clearly his daughter had lost her way and Blake had thought she had hit the bottom with Michael Colhane.

"And you think Amanda was part of this group?" Alexis demanded her voice unusually shrill. "Is that why you are here to label my daughter some sort of addict?"

"I am not here to make accusations Mrs Carrington. If Amanda was caught up in this then she would not be the first woman to get in over her head with the wrong man be unable to escape." The officer replied glancing across at Blake who placed a restraining hand on Alexis's arm lowering her back into her seat.

"We do have witness reports that state there seemed to have been problems recently in their relationship, an argument at a Casino that almost became violent, and you can see for yourself from the picture taken a few days ago that their relationship was volatile."

The officer paused a grimace of sorts passing over his face. "Mr Carrington I don't wish to pry but it could be vital to our investigation…You claim to be completely unaware of your daughter's relationship with Mr Demeter, so may I ask what you have been talking with her about during your conversations?"

Frowning on confusion Blake stared blankly at the police officer. "I haven't spoke with my daughter since she left Denver."

"Mr Carrington I can understand your desire to protect your daughter but obstructing or investigation…"

"I am not doing anything of the kind!" Blake snapped his irritation with the officer growing. "And how dare you accuse me of such, believe me if I had spoken to Amanda then none of this would have happened I wouldn't have allowed it!"

"Mr Carrington we know your daughter placed phone calls to your house in Denver Colorado, we may not have succeeded in placing a tap on Demeter's phones but the phone company have supplied us with the details of all calls incoming and outgoing to his villa, numbers and duration and your private line has been called on four occasions. The phone calls were short but they were answered."

"Blake…" Alexis turned wide emerald eyes on her former husband her initial anger fading when Blake appeared to be as clueless as he claimed, and Blake had never been good at lying, not to her.

"Officer if I had spoken to my daughter I would not hide the fact…"Blake began when suddenly it was like a puzzle simply slotted into pace, and Blake could only blame his exhaustion for it taking so long. "Oh no…"

"Blake?"

Sighing Blake rubbed his face as the terrible truth sank in. "I have been getting calls, I thought they were pranks, the middle of the night and no one speaking when I answered. Once I thought I heard crying…I was going to report it to the police but then they stopped….If only I had thought…"

"There is no point torturing yourself Mr Carrington." The officer insisted. "We cannot assume if you had spoken to your daughter that it would have changed anything. All we do know is that on the morning of her accident Amanda rose much earlier than usual, that she packed a suitcase and took the new Porsche Andrei had given her, probably as an apology gift, only a few days before. What we cannot be sure of is what actually happened next. I don't personally believe Amanda drove herself off the cliff deliberately; why pack a suitcase if you are intending to commit suicide? There is witness account of another sports car speeding around the time of Amanda's accident. Yet we cannot be sure if there was a chase and Amanda was trying to escape, or maybe Amanda lost control of a car that was too powerful for her, or maybe she did deliberately drive herself off the cliff …"

Closing his eyes Blake tried to block out the vivid picture the police officer was painting yet now the image was imprinted in his mind and he could easily imagine the car going careering off, Amanda screaming as she realised what was happening. It was a nightmare he could quickly become trapped in if it weren't for the muffled sobs from the woman next to him. Forcing himself to hold it together Blake turned to Alexis pulling her unresisting form into his arms, feeling her burrow her head into his shoulder.

Locking eyes with the sympathetic police officer Blake had only one question he wanted answering. "What is it you want from us Officer…"

"It is better if you don't have my name Mr Carrington, I work mainly for Interpol and anonymity has saved my life on more than one occasion. And you're right I do need something from you…" He paused at least having the decency to look abashed. "I am sure you have noticed the heavy police presence?"

"Yes."

"That was to keep Andrei from coming to see your daughter, and that was the reason why you were treated with suspicion upon your arrival I am sorry…We needed to protect Amanda from Andrei just in case he really did try to have her killed and then sent someone to finish the job."

"And I appreciate that." Blake added through gritted teeth, even if those hours in the waiting room had been some of the worst of his life, at least now he had a reason that made sense. "So what do you want from us?"

"We want to allow Andrei to visit."

"WHAT!" Blake exclaimed aghast. "You've just told us this man in the worst kind of monster, he may even be responsible for our daughter's accident and you want us to let him see her!"

"Mr Carrington please calm down…" The officer tried to reason with him but Blake was beyond reasoning. "He wouldn't be left alone with her, but every avenue into trying to gather solid evidence on Demeter is a dead end; if we could use this opportunity to draw him out of his usual protection and plant a listening device on him."

"You want to use my daughter as bait you mean." Blake argued. "Well I won't risk it, if my daughter is to die then it will be with dignity not because your officers are incapable of doing their jobs!"

"Mr Carrington I can understand your reluctance but please consider this, if Andrei isn't able to see for himself that Amanda is no longer a threat to him then what is to stop him from trying again…allowing this monster in may be the only thing that can save her life!"

Part 4a)

Fallon Carrington couldn't help but admire her reflection in the mirror. The long slink of black silk clung to her slight curves and when combined with the incredible diamond chain Fallon had 'borrowed' from her mother's extensive jewellery collection Fallon knew every eye in the room would be on her when she made her grand entrance at The Carlton.

"Well someone looks mighty fine this evening." An admiring voice called out from the doorway and Fallon couldn't contain her laughter.

"Is that all for Mr Jeffrey Colby or was there some other handsome gentleman you were hoping on impressing?"

Snorting Fallon shook her head. "Oh no I am not joining the Carrington family dinner…Why are you going?" Fallon asked giving Jackson's casual attire the once over. "You're hardly dressed for it Jackson, those dinners are normally black tie you know!"

"Oh no thank'y Ma'am!" Jackson quipped tipping his forelock. "But I us mere hired hands aren't invited to eat at the big house! Besides I promised to spring Jessica, apparently the prison wardens of Mrs Gunnerson and Krystle are forcing so much healthy food into her that the baby is craving a good old fashioned hamburger!"

"Oh that I can believe!" Fallon snorted memories of her first pregnancy flashing through her mind. "I remember Mrs Gunnerson banning anything but the healthiest food, she even dared to try and deny me some of her chocolate fudge cake and so I used to sneak out of the house and visit my mother who had gone through the same thing when she carrying me. In fact I think that stash of chocolate was the start of my rebuilding fences with my mother."

Laughing at the vivid picture Fallon painted Jackson could well believe that Alexis would be only to happy to indulge her daughter's cravings. "Well then if you're not heading to the Carrington Mansion why are you all dressed up?"

"Oh I have a dinner meeting." Fallon answered airily, dabbing perfume behind her ears before picking up her fur stole.

"It must be some meeting!" Jackson answered winking knowingly his eyes tracking her figure.

"It's not that kind of meeting Jackson get your head out of the gutter!" Fallon tutted linking her arm with his as they both headed for their cars. "Actually I am having dinner with a woman!"

"Oh my are you sure I can't come to your dinner instead?" Jackson teased. "Two lovely ladies…"

"Oh I wouldn't say Barbara Weston is lovely…Well she isn't a total hound, we used to go to school together and I bumped into her this morning and she insisted on dinner…"

"Oh I see." Jackson retorted his smile growing. "Old rival, and you are determined to outshine her!"

Smiling enigmatically Fallon neither confirmed nor denied Jackson's suspicions, yet their little moment was broken when along the drive an old and some battered recovery truck came trundling down, pulling a familiar looking car behind it.

"Isn't that Dexter's car?" Jackson asked his blue eyes narrowing as the tow truck came a stop and a nervous looking old gentleman got out, quickly whipping off his hat as he spotted them.

"Good evening…Would you be called Alexis Ma'am?"

"Ummm no Alexis Colby is my mother, I'm Fallon Colby can I help you Mr…"

"Oh Jim Thackery Ma'am." The driver answered nodding his head respectfully. "Well I got the right place at least…I found this car broken down, and well the man behind the wheel weren't in much of a state to be driving it anyways, he asked me to bring him home, kept mumbling about an Alexis, he wrote down this address before passing out on me…He's in the back of the pick up right now."

Sharing a look Jackson strode around to the back of the driver's truck and there just as he had said was Dexter passed out amongst the old man's tool box and under some tarpaulin. "Jesus Dexter."

"God what does Mother see in him." Fallon tutted in disgust as Jackson and the old man half helped, half dragged Dex out of the back of the truck.

"Well better get him inside." Fallon muttered following the men as they took Dex into the lounge and laid him down on the couch.

"I'll help you with the car." Jackson added once Dexter had been settled leaving Fallon to scowl down at him all by herself.

The smell alone was enough to have her crinkling her nose. What had Dex been doing bathing in beer? He certainly hadn't shaved in god knows how long…or changed his clothes! Well Fallon couldn't do anything about that but she could do something about the smell and the way Dexter seemed to be drooling over her mother's cushions.

Walking over to the decanter Fallon filled a highball class full of soda water then striding back over to the comatose man on the sofa she flung the glassful of water directly in Dex's face, watching with satisfaction as Dex spluttered and fell off of the sofa.

"What the hell…"Dex grunted as his backside made an uncomfortable collision with the floor. Rubbing his eyes and wiping the water from his eyes he stared up at a smirking Fallon. "Fallon what the hell do you think you are doing, where's Alexis?"

"I was giving you a much needed bath!" Fallon snorted her lip curling in disgust. "You smell like you spent the last few days sleeping under a bar Dex!"

"What or where I have been is none of your damn business. Now I asked you a question, where is Alexis?" Dex grunted.

"Not here obviously, but then if you had been here instead of trawling through every bar in Wyoming after dumping your child on that incompetent sister of yours then you would already know where Mummy is." Fallon retorted angrily. "However since you prefer to indulge your own weakness rather than be here when you are needed…"

"Wait what…Is Jack here?" Dex spluttered as his brain tried to process all that Fallon had said. "What are you talking about Fallon, Alexis was in Australia why on earth would I need to be here?"

"No Mummy was in Australia but she left…after we got a phone call in the middle of the night to say Amanda had been in car accident."

"What…where…" Dex tried to keep up. "Is she alright?"

"No she's not, not that you care." Fallon answered spitefully pulling her fur stole closer around her shoulders. "You already did more than enough for my little sister Dex, if it wasn't for you interfering in her life then she probably wouldn't have gotten so low that she fell for Michael's lies in the first place. Then she never would have left Denver!"

"Now hold on a minute don't you go trying to pin this on me Fallon, it was an accident, one that could have happened anywhere. Now where is your mother, she is going to need me…"

"She's with Daddy, so your help won't be necessary Dexter!" Fallon retorted smugly.

"Now if you will excuse me you have already made me late this evening, might I suggest you head in the direction of the shower before stopping by to see your son…that is assuming you were bothering on going to see him." She added snidely casting her critical eye over Dex before sashaying out the door unable to contain the sly smile that snuck over her lips as she ignored Dex's demands to tell her where Alexis was.

No Fallon thought it best to keep that little piece of information to herself. The last thing her parents needed right now was Dexter and his irrational jealousy descending on them like a tornado from hell. It was best for Amanda, best for Blake and Alexis and best for the whole family if Dex stayed here in Denver…the only one it wasn't best for was Dexter but then again as far as Fallon was concerned if came down to a choice Dex's happiness was the one that was expendable.

Part 4b):

It was three in the morning.

In Denver it was early evening. Jack was probably just finishing his supper and the Nanny was getting him ready for bed. Glancing across at the phone Alexis felt the urge to pick it up and check in on things, yet the moment the receiver was in her hand Alexis slammed it back down. The chance of Dex being home was too high and right now Alexis was certain he would able to hear the guilt in her voice.

Lying back amongst the plumped pillows Alexis rested the back of her hand against her forehead trying to calm the conflicting thoughts that raced through her mind.

Amanda's doctor had all but ordered them out of the hospital. At first Alexis had been certain Blake would flatly refuse to cooperate but after the doctor had threatened to call security even her ex-husband had been forced to bend that stubborn neck of his. And right now that same stubborn neck was resting on a similar pillow in a bedroom just the other side of their shared lounge.

Hmmm perhaps she should place that call after all. Alexis had trusted Fallon to make her travel arrangements including arranging her hotel and clearly Blake had done the same. Something their smart little daughter had taken advantage of. Blake's reaction to that news was the only thing that could bring a smile to her lips. Blake had practically choked on his own tongue when the bellboy had shown them both to the same room, at least it was the best room in the hotel. He had certainly vanished into his own bedroom quickly enough…although having not slept at all for approaching fifty hours could also have been the cause.

Alexis at least had been able to take a nap in the hospital, although it would have been a travesty to have called that a rest. Her sleep had been less than peaceful and fear of yet another nightmare was keeping Alexis staring up at the ornately decorated ceiling.

It was certainly more interesting than the hospital ceiling and well Alexis didn't care to remember the last ceiling she had woken up to. Yet despite her best efforts memories of waking up in Ethan's beach house crowded into her thoughts.

She had been alone, that at least had been a relief. Yet as she turned over onto her stomach Alexis felt her body protest the movement. Her body felt like she had been through the ringer. Like her old gorgon of a physiotherapist had once more gotten her hands on her. Yet right now Alexis would have preferred if that had been the case.

_Her head and stomach felt like someone was hitting her with a hammer after she had swallowed a live squid._

_The hazy and yet lurid details of the night before flashing before her eyes in a sick little slideshow._

"_Hmmm milady is finally awake I see." A teasing voice called out from the doorway and Alexis screwed her eyes up as Ethan swaggered over and lowered himself down on to the bed beside her, daring to press a kiss to Alexis's bare shoulder._

_Flinching away from his touch Alexis wrapped the sheet more tightly around her as she swung her unsteady feet off of the bed._

"_Well don't go running away now Alexis…I thought we might have ourselves a little action replay…"_

"_I think there has been more than enough action Mr Hailsworth." Alexis spat bitterly as she headed unsteadily towards the bathroom, her disgust only growing as she caught sight of the bags under her eyes and the unnatural paleness to her skin. God she looked terrible if this was what drugs did to a person's appearance it was a wonder that people took them at all._

"_Why so formal all of a sudden?" Ethan asked following her through into the bathroom his dark eyes raking over what he could see of her figure. Reaching out he traced his fingertips along the curve of her shoulder blade. _

"_Don't touch me!" Alexis spat before bending down to rinse the foul taste out of her mouth. _

"_Oh well that it a change as I recall last night you couldn't get enough of me touching you!" Ethan retorted and Alexis could make out the slight bite in his tone._

"_After you drugged me you mean." Alexis spat back meeting his ice with her fiery contempt. "You really are sick Ethan."_

"_Lady you had the chance to leave." Ethan retorted his dark eyes seeking out Alexis's in the mirror as she tried to do something with the bird's nest her hair had turned into. "You didn't…"_

"_I did try to leave as I recall and you stopped me!" Alexis snapped back. "And I was hardly capable of fighting you off."_

"_You didn't even try! In fact you were the one ripping my clothes off Alexis not the other way around."_

"_A fact that disgusts me, but at least I can console myself with the fact that I was not in my right mind when I made that choice, you however you were in your right mind you put that vile substance in my drink and that makes you the worst kind of scum!" Alexis hissed barely able to keep her rage under control. _

"_Scum that spent the night getting you to scream at the top of your lungs Alexis." Ethan added with a smirk. "I get it you let loose last night, you let yourself go and had the best sex of your life and now in the light of day you are feeling guilty because of that little cowboy you've got waiting for you at home."_

_Snorting in derision Alexis shook her head at Ethan's delusion. "My we do have an inflated opinion of ourselves, you were hardly the best darling, and its no wonder you have to drug your women." She added laughing at the outraged expression on Ethan's face._

_Gripping her arm as she tried to push past him Ethan's grip was verging on painful his scowl deepening to an angry expression that made the hairs on the back of Alexis's neck stand up._

"_Compared to who Alexis, that cowboy you ride or perhaps the legendary Blake Carrington, don't tell me that old man is better in the sack? I amazed he can even get it up any longer let alone satisfy a woman of your appetite."_

_The slap that Alexis landed across his smug face certainly took Ethan by surprise. Yet it was Alexis's words that were intended to land the lethal blow. "Blake Carrington is by far and away better in bed than you will ever be! And he has never failed to satisfy me in the bedroom, on the contrary he is the best man I have ever had, you pale terribly by comparison!"_

_Reeling from Alexis's words Ethan's handsome face seemed to contort into something ugly. "Well that really is funny considering how close a comparison that is Alexis, I mean surely you must have noticed…"_

"_I don't care to listen to your delusions Ethan. There is nothing similar between you and Blake Carrington." Alexis scoffed struggling slightly in Ethan's grip. "Now let me go before we add imprisoning to your long list of offences!"_

"_Look closer Alexis." Ethan hissed. "Surely you of all people must see it…"_

_Rolling her eyes Alexis realised her only way out of the damn house any time soon was to indulge this ridiculous whim. Yet as she raised her eyes to stare into those dark eyes Alexis felt a jolt of familiarity that made her stomach churn. No…No that wasn't possible…_

_Seeing the dawning realisation in Alexis's eyes as well as the growing look of horror on her face Ethan paused dramatically before going in the kill. "Tell me Alexis does the name Tom Carrington Jnr mean anything to you?"_

Part 5a):

A few months ago Dex would never had believed it possible but Fallon Carrington Colby was quickly making her way up the rankings of his least favourite people! Right now she was even a potential rival for knocking Blake off of the top spot in Dex's list.

How dare she refuse to tell him where Alexis was?

Oh Dex could guess why, Fallon at least was straightforward and upfront about her feelings. Ever since she had forgiven Blake, Fallon had been trying in her own way to bring her parents back together. Probably in the childish belief that if left alone the two would finally overcome the issues keeping them apart, with Dex himself as a particularly large roadblock impeding that reunion.

Well if Fallon refused to tell him then Dex would simply have to find the answer all by himself.

After he had taken a shower…

Fallon had been right about that at least. Dex had caught a glimpse of his reflection in Alexis's vanity mirror and he did resemble a drunken bum who had staggered in off of the sidewalk. That he had understandable reasons for wanting to drink himself into oblivion Dex refused to think of now, instead he focused on his righteous fury with Fallon allowing that to push away thoughts of Farnsworth Dexter Snr.

The shower helped to sober him up a little, but there was still enough bad whiskey flowing through his bloodstream that Dex had avoided a close shave with a blade. Somehow he didn't trust his shaking hands not to cause the blade to slip and solve Fallon's roadblock problems for her. So instead he had settled for the less than satisfactory attentions of his electric razor and slipping into his pyjama bottoms and towelling robe to return his appearance to something not quite so terrifying before visiting his son.

Yet apart from the smell if really wouldn't have mattered as on arriving in the nursery Dex found his son already fast sleep, sucking on the now somewhat ratty soft rabbit that Alexis had given him. Perhaps it was a comfort thing, since his mother was absent or perhaps his son was simply teething again. God Dex hoped somewhat selfishly that it was the first; not that he wished Jack any form of anguish but trying to sooth a teething Jack was best left for when Alexis was back home.

"Sleep tight little guy…" Dex mused reaching and down and stroking his son's soft cheek. "Mummy will be home soon Daddy will to see to that."

Yet even as he made the promise Dex felt a twinge of fear. What if Alexis wasn't home soon? Fallon had said things were bad with Amanda, but how bad? There were significant degrees of bad and dammit was it asking too much to be kept informed when these things directly impacted on him and his son?

Besides at the back of his mind Dex couldn't shake the niggling thought that Fallon's plan might actually have a hope of succeeding the longer Alexis and Bake remained together, depending upon each other for support. God even when they had been married Dex had often been the second choice for emotional support whenever it came to one of the children, at the time he had had no choice other than to step back.

After all how could he possibly begin to understand what Blake And Alexis were going through as parents? And on the rare occasions Alexis had turned to him for support Dex had been floundering blind, providing her the shoulder she needed to cry on, but he had felt so helpless unable to provide more practical help and support. Well he wasn't quite so clueless now. Having suffered through so much with Jack, Dex was certainly well acquainted with the indescribable fear of a parent faced with losing a child.

He had to find out where they were….

Surely Fallon had noted down the details somewhere?

Confident and certain of his plan Dex left the nursery, taking advantage of the practically empty house to do a little reconnaissance.

Fallon hadn't even locked her door…

Smirking as something seemed to be going right Dex slipped into the room, pulling the door shut behind him before coming to an uncertain pause a little inside. It just felt a little unsettling being inside someone else's personal space. The moonlight from the window highlighted all the little touches, the children's photographs every where and the discarded towels on the floor made him feel like the intruder he was, but Dex pushed down those feelings and focused on his anger.

First he tried the bedside cabinet, yet there were no international numbers scribbled on the pad by the phone and the only thing a quick snoop through Fallon's personal drawer turned up was a half trashy novel by a Jackie somebody and an item of personal use that had Dex slamming the drawer shut when he realised it wasn't a torch.

Making his way over to the dresser, Dex yanked the drawers open, rummaging roughly in the clothing for anything that shouldn't be there, a filofax or….

Pulling out the hard shape his fingers had closed on Dex felt his stomach drop away as he immediately recognised a dark velvet box.

"No she wouldn't…" Dex muttered yet as he flicked the lid open Dex was forced to confront the truth, to recognise that the depths Fallon Colby would go to were far deeper than withholding of a hotel or telephone number. Yet theft….

Closing the box and hiding the twinkling perfect ring from sight Dex felt something snap. So Fallon wanted to play games, fine, let's see how much she liked the consequences.

And with that Dex settled down to wait in the dark, if Fallon liked games Dex could only imagine that she loved surprises!

Part 5b):

This was not exactly the family dinner that Krystle Carrington had envisioned when she had offered to look after the children to ensure they were all together and protected from the terrible news about Amanda. It was times like these that the family needed to forget all the different squabbles between them and pull together like a proper family and as Blake not here to take the helm Krystle had no choice but to step into his shoes.

Seated in Blake's seat at the head of the table Krystle tried to keep the conversation light and flowing, yet underneath it all there was an undercurrent of tension that no one could get over.

At least the children seemed genuinely delighted to have their father back, and even if Adam seemed less than thrilled by the returning conqueror's presence he at least had the sense for once to hold his tongue.

"And did you really see a kangaroo Dad?"

"I saw lots of them and they looked just like Lauren's toy one, except not quite as cuddly." Jeff answered his son, catching Krystle's eye and sharing a smile before ruffling his son's hair and putting his other arm around his daughter who turned her large dark eyes up at her daddy as she hugged her new 'Kanga' close.

"Now Lauren that kangaroo is very special you know, I was in the airport and I swear he hopped right over to me and told me to take him home to a very special little girl…"

"Stupid toy can't talk." Danny's sudden and bitter interjection took everyone by surprise…well perhaps not everyone as Adam didn't seem quite so shocked as everyone else by the boy's sudden outburst. "Uncle Jeff is a liar!"

"Danny what on earth…" Krystle began only to stop as LB took matters into his own hands.

"Don't you dare call my daddy a liar!" LB snapped, his hands moving as quick as lightening as he pushed his cousin.

"Don't push me!" Danny spat back pushing LB back even harder, so hard in fact that LB fell from his chair and bumped his head hard on the floor.

Jumping up from his seat Jeff immediately rushed to his son's side. "LB are you alright? Danny what the hell did you think you were doing?" He demanded turning his piercing Colby blue eyes on Steven's son who had the nerve to glare back at him.

"Jeff I am sure this is just a misunderstanding…I am sure if Danny says he's sorry." Krystle tried to calm the situation moving to Danny's side her hand fluttering on his shoulder, hurt when the boy shrugged her comfort aside. "Danny please this isn't like you."

His jaw clenched Danny refused to meet anyone's gaze. He wouldn't be forced to apologise. He wasn't sorry in the slightest. It wasn't fair. Everyone always took LB's side and he had pushed Danny first but he wasn't in trouble! "No."

"Steven Daniel Carrington you will apologise to my son or you can go right up to your room with no dessert!" Jeff demanded hotly his anger growing when a mere slip of a boy continued to defy him, just like those arrogant board members who had the nerve to question his ability to pull off the Australian negotiations, well he had shown them…

Although Alexis and her latest stooge had played some part, a fact that took the shine off of their victory for Jeff and left him feeling slightly on edge; perhaps that could excuse his shorter temper but regardless Jeff was not about to let a child sass him.

"I am still waiting!" Jeff repeated.

"Danny darling just say you're sorry and then we can all go back to our nice dinner and it will all be forgotten." Krystle tried to placate Danny; unable to understand where this sudden stubborn wilful streak had come from.

The Danny she remembered was a sweet loving child, true he hadn't had the most stable of childhoods and Krystle couldn't imagine his latest move to Colby Acres, formally Delta Ro his mother's former home now turned upside down by Alexis had been particularly easy on him.

Crouching down Krystle moved to cup Danny's cheek and turn his face up to meet hers yet Danny yanked his chin out of her hand and without a word of apology stormed out of the dining room.

"Danny…" Krystle called out after the fleeing child before turning back to the family her crystal blue eyes wide with horror. "What on earth can have gotten into him?"

It was Adam's snort of amusement that seemed so very out of place as the eldest Carrington son lent forward for the wine bottle and topped up his glass.

"Is something about all of this amusing you Adam?" Jeff snapped back his ire now firmly fixed on his brother-in-law as Krystle took over fussing over LB.

"No I can't possibly find anything about this situation remotely amusing." Adam drawled sarcastically his own blue eyes watching as their precious LB hammed his injury up for the ever-gullible Krystle.

"Good because only a sick individual would take pleasure in a child hurting themselves!" Jeff snapped back.

"And only an unfair parent would punish one child and not the other…LB was the one to push Danny first or has everyone conveniently forgotten that little fact?" Adam retorted smugly his eyes gazing around the table watching as his words barely sank in.

"Of course not why am I not surprised." He added disgusted by the blatant double standard. Well if no one was going to punish LB for turning the squabble violent in the first place then Adam at least refused to see Danny singled out for punishment.

Picking up his own untouched dessert and a spoon along with his wine glass Adam stood from the table.

"Adam where are you going?" Krystle asked as she glanced up from checking LB's head for bumps.

"To talk to the boy, someone needs to and since you are so clearly already occupied…" Adam drawled his irritation with Jeff growing as the Colby heir once more interfered in something that had nothing to do with him.

"You will do no such thing Danny can stay in his room and think about what he did…"

"I'm sorry Jeff but are you actually suffering under the delusion that I have to listen to you?" Adam scoffed cutting the righteous Jeff Colby off mid flow.

"That boy has to be punished."

"Perhaps but it won't be by you, you're not his father you're not even a blood relative…" Adam retorted his eyes passing around the room. "In fact the only adult in this room with any actual blood relation to the boy is me. I'm his real Uncle and I will talk to him."

"And say what?" Jeff added. "Perhaps give him more tips for how to attack my son?"

Shaking his head Adam could only call back over his shoulder, Jeff Colby may have stolen Denver Carrington out from under him but he refused to allow him the last word. "Delusional and paranoid! I'd get some rest Jeff, take a few days off, clearly all that Australian sun has addled what little brains you had left!"

Part 6a):

Fallon Carrington Colby's evening had been a mixed one; the food at dinner had been excellent but then considering they had dined at The Carlton that was only to be expected. Barbara Weston's sour face had certainly been worth the extra effort Fallon had put into her appearance, as had her orders to her staff to be extra attentive to their table. Still the highlight of her evening had occurred before she had even reached the hotel, a return to form of flirting with Jackson gave Fallon hope that her own idiocy hadn't ruined things between them. Of course the lowest point in her evening had also occurred before leaving for her dinner. Just the memory of Dexter's drunken body stretched out over her mother's white couch had Fallon's blood boiling.

Sure Dex was good looking in a rugged way, with his military history for heroics, and Fallon had overheard gossip about his prowess in the bedroom, so she could understand why her mother would be attracted to him. There was a point in time when Fallon had herself considered changing her friendship with Dex into something more but then Zorelli had came along and Fallon had let any burgeoning feelings for Dex fall by the wayside. Plus since Fallon had been the one to help pick up the pieces of her mother's broken heart after Dex had cheated with Sable there was no way Fallon could do that to her own mother.

Looking back Fallon could only regret ever getting Dex involved her mother's recovery, yet at the time it had seemed the best choice for them all. However had Fallon known then what she did now, that Dex would use the situation to push her mother back into a romantic relationship before she could possibly be ready for one, then Fallon might have made other arrangements.

Still with the way Dexter seemed to be self destructing at the moment it wasn't like Fallon needed to set him up, Dex was doing a good enough job of destroying his relationship with Alexis all by himself!

That thought alone had Fallon smirking as her mother's driver brought them back to Colby Acres, tired but satisfied with the way her day had turned out. Yet that smirk quickly slipped from Fallon's face the moment she opened the door to her room and found an unwelcome interloper.

"What are you doing in here?" Fallon demanded her eyes narrowing in disgust at the man sitting on her bedside chair.

"Waiting for you obviously!" Dex retorted his dark eyes locked on Fallon who glared at him from the doorway. "I had a question for you Fallon."

"I have no interest in answering any questions you might pose Dex I already told you I won't tell you where Mother is." Fallon snapped flinging her fur down. "Now would you please leave Dex it has already been a very long day…"

"I am not going anywhere until you explain how the hell this came to be in your dresser?" Dex retorted flicking open the small velvet box he held in his right hand, leaning back his dark eyes locked on her figure.

"I don't know what you are talking about!" Fallon hedged yet her nervous expression gave her away.

"Oh I think you do." Dex answered hotly getting to his feet as he stalked across the room ring in hand. "Take a good look Fallon look familiar now?"

"It looks perfectly common to me." Fallon sniffed looking down her nose at the ring. "Is that even genuine?"

"It is and you damn well know it is, otherwise why the hell would you steal it?" Dex demanded.

"I think all that time you spent in the bar has addled your brain Dex." Fallon huffed, fluffing her hair as she checked her reflection in the mirror before glancing at her watch. It was getting late surely Jackson must be back by now…perhaps he might be interested in a little nightcap. "Now if you don't mind Dex I would prefer you leave."

"Oh I don't doubt you would prefer it." Dex mimicked patronising. "However it isn't what you want that concerns me Fallon, its how you got your hands on this ring and how the hell you thought you could get away with keeping hold of it?"

"Are you accusing me of stealing Dex?"

"If the cap fits." Dex added leaning down his face now level with Fallon's.

"Well that is ridiculous. I have never seen that ring before."

"Then how can you account for it being in your dresser hidden away?" Dex demanded hotly.

"How should I know, you probably put it there when you were getting your jollies off going through my personal possessions!" Fallon retorted her temper raised along with her voice.

"Now I don't know what your problem is but I know damn well it will only double when I tell mother about your recent behaviour…drunkenness, ransacking my room, dumping Jack on anyone who would take him….hell perhaps Monica was right all along about you are an unfit parent!" Fallon added slapping the ring out of Dex's hand as she turned and made for the door.

"Don't you dare…." Dex began reaching out and grabbing Fallon's arm.

"Let go of me!" Fallon struggled wobbling on her stilettos as she slapped Dex's arm, her nails going for his face.

Reeling back from her sudden attack Dex didn't know what or how it happened, one moment he was whirling around lifting his hand to defend himself the next his elbow clocked Fallon on the jaw and she lost her battle with gravity, her heels caught in the long slippery fabric of her dress.

Her scream of surprise was cut off as her head connected with the edge of the skirting board, which opened a long nasty looking cut and left Fallon dazed.

"Oh my god Fallon…" Dex spluttered stepping forward hands outstretched to help. "I didn't mean to…I'm sorry…"

Yet just as he was leaning down the door to the bedroom was kicked open and a furious looking Jackson Hobbs stormed inside and grabbed Dex by the jacket before he could say another word.

Pushing Dex back against the wall Jackson could feel the red mist taking over, memories long suppressed from his childhood struggling to take hold but Jackson pushed them aside. Yet he held onto his anger, only the worst sort of men hit women, and perhaps Jackson had made a error in judgement but he had thought Dexter better than that, yet the evidence spoke otherwise. "What the hell is the matter with you Dexter? Hitting defenceless women is that how you are getting your kicks these days?"

"Jackson it isn't…It was an accident." Dex tried to explain turning his face to Fallon who had pulled herself into a sitting position and who raised a shaky hand to her bleeding brow.

"Fallon tell him, I didn't hit you… we are arguing…" Dex struggled against the almost choke hold that Jackson had on him. A hold that Dex couldn't break and if it were not for his well documented playboy lifestyle Dex might have been convinced Jackson had received military training he was so good.

Dizzy and a little winded Fallon raised her gaze, her quick mind making a split second decision, the flash of conscience quickly squashed. "Oh Jackson thank goodness you are here…I thought he was going to hurt me…please get him out of here…please I can't stand the sight of him a moment longer!"

Part 6b):

"It's not good news."

Blake hadn't expected it would be, but part of him had been able to hold onto a tiny flicker of hope that somehow miraculously during the hours they had been forced to leave the hospital that there would be some improvement. An enforced absence that had done little real good, yes the shower and change of clothes had made Blake feel a little more human but he still hadn't caught more than a few minutes sleep and Blake could have gotten that much in a chair beside Amanda's bedside.

"What do you mean by not good news Doctor?" Alexis's question drew Blake back to the present, she sounded as defeated and exhausted as Blake felt. There were clear dark circles under Alexis's eyes, which today seemed to be a duller shade of jade rather than their usual bright emerald. She hadn't even bothered to style her hair, instead it was pulled back simply in a ponytail, the occasional wisp escaping to frame her pale face.

"I mean Mrs Colby that the latest brain scan has shown no signs of improvement, there is no higher brain activity at all. Her body is now simply going through the motions. Amanda is now dependant upon the machines keeping her alive." The doctor paused swallowing nervously before continuing. "It is our medical opinion that additional support be removed…"

"You mean you want to turn off the machines, to let our daughter die!" Blake snapped, his lack of sleep making him quicker to anger. "No I won't give up on my daughter."

"Mrs Colby do you feel the same way?"

"Of course she does." Blake snapped glaring at the young upstart of a doctor who dared to even try and drive a wedge between them on this. How dare he try and put this burden on Alexis's frail shoulders, couldn't he see she was suffering enough?

"I was asking Mrs Colby Mr Carrington, as Amanda's mother and her appointed emergency contact the final decision whether or not to remove organ support is ultimately her decision."

So his opinion didn't even count, just because he wasn't listed on a piece of paper they didn't need his approval to end his own child's life!

"Now listen here you…." Blake began visibly shaking with rage as he stood from his seat, his anger clawing at his throat. "If you think I am going to let anyone make a decision like that without even consulting me…"

"My decision?" Alexis echoed and if possibly Blake thought her face became even paler at that thought.

"Alexis please you can't even be considering it." Blake muttered aghast, reaching out and grasping her by the shoulders as the doctor took this opportunity to escape from the room and Blake Carrington's ire.

Staring up at him her eyes hollow and blank Alexis could only stare at him. "I don't know what I am thinking right now…Do I want to be responsible for making this decision…No…but I don't think I can bear dragging this out much longer…Blake help me I don't know what to do?"

"Alexis she's your daughter…our child…you gave her life, can you even for one second consider taking that away?" Blake reasoned crouching down now so that their gazes were almost level. "Darling you wouldn't be able to live with yourself."

"I know that!" Alexis snapped back pushing away Blake's hands. "Don't you think I know that?" She added her tone bordering on hysterical.

"Yet what's the alternative, we sit here for days…weeks with no hope of her getting better. We keep her stuck in this limbo, unable to pass on because we can't bear to let her go, because we're too selfish?"

"She's not dead yet." Blake growled. "You have to give her every chance Alexis."

"To do what, get better?" Alexis retorted pouring all her own frustration into their argument, getting to her feet and pacing too in the small room.

"Well what if she won't ever get better Blake? All we are holding onto here is just a shell, the Amanda that we know can't come back; is it fair to keep her tethered here because we are unable to let go? Could you really go back to Denver, and go on with your life knowing that our daughter was kept alive only by machines? That that was the fate we as her parents had condemned her too!"

Running his hands through his hair Bake tugged on the ends, almost tearing some out on his frustration. Blake didn't have all the answers; only a deep-seated feeling in his gut told him that this was wrong, very wrong. "I don't know how I would cope but I can guess how I would feel if I didn't even try it…I am not ready to give up hope yet Alexis…"

Catching Alexis as she turned Blake slid his arms around her waist moulding himself against her back, resting his cheek against hers. He could feel the dampness of her tears against his face, the way her body seemed to tremble with fear and pain and rage. Tightening his hold as Alexis seemed to sag into him, Blake sighed as she turned in his arms and curled into him.

"Please….please Alexis I am begging you, don't agree to turn the machines off."

Feeling Alexis nod Bake couldn't contain his exclamation of relief, tightening his hold on her as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Thank you."

Breathing in Blake's cologne Alexis's burrowed her face into the crook of his neck, her body soaking up the wonderful warmth and sense of solidity that Blake exuded.

"I wouldn't make a decision like that without you….I couldn't." Alexis added her voice breaking slightly there really was no way she could have coped without him here. It was just terrible that it took a tragedy of this nature to make that clear. No matter their disputes, or the many times they had hurt one another when she really needed him Blake was there holding her up. "Oh Blake what are we going to do?"

It was a valid question and his momentary relief at Alexis's capitulation aside Blake wasn't blind to the merits of her argument. Could he go on with his life knowing his daughter would never wake up and he had condemned to her to live out the rest of her life like that instead of granting her some dignity to her death? There were no easy answers here, and there was only one thing of which Blake was certain in all this mess…

"I don't know what to do for the best, but you won't have to make this decision alone. Whatever we decide we will do it together, we created Amanda together, and if eventually we have no other choice…." Blake paused his own voice breaking as he was forced to concede to the possibility, even if it was only to ease Alexis's sense of guilt. "I know my signature has no legal authority but if one day we do decide to switch them off, you won't be alone… I will sign too."


	11. Episode 11: Pandora's Box

Episode 11: Pandora's box

Part 1:

"I am sorry but there was nothing more we could do…Amanda passed away an hour ago…I am very sorry for your loss."

No….NO…..Alexis Carrington Colby refused to accept the words slipping from the doctor's lips pushing past him and fleeing down the corridor down to the ICU room where Amanda had been just a few hours before when the doctor had convinced them to leave. Flinging open the door Alexis stopped just inside, her eyes locked on the bed where only a few hours earlier her daughter had lain, hooked up the machines, unmoving but still alive and yet now her daughter wasn't there. Instead lying in her bed was a young man, his head shorn and bandaged.

Alexis's entrance hadn't gone unnoticed the young lady seated by his bedside glanced up in surprise.

"Are you a Doctor…A nurse…is there any news is he going to be alright…"

Backing away her mind refusing to accept what she was seeing. It wasn't until Blake's strong hands closed on her shoulders and pulled Alexis from the room his voice low in her ear.

"Alexis it's alright…You need to calm down…"

"NOOOOOOO….Amanda….What have you done with my baby?" Alexis demanded trying to shrug off Blake's grip as she whirled around and advanced on the doctor.

"I am very sorry Mrs Colby but we had another emergency and we needed the ICU bed, your daughter has been moved to a side room…If you would like to see her and say goodbye?"

"No you're lying!" Alexis spat reaching out to try and shake some sense into the doctor, yet Blake was grabbing her arms.

"Blake let me go!"

"Alexis you have to stop….calm down….please darling it's not real….it's just a nightmare…"

Frowning in confusion as Blake's voice seemed to repeat even as she struggled in his arms, the hospital corridor slipping away.

"Alexis wake up please!"

"Blake…." Alexis called out her eyes blinking in the sudden darkness, her eyes struggling to make out Blake's face even as he leaned over her. "What happened?"

Sighing in relief Blake finally released Alexis's arms, she had been surprisingly strong in her delirium and he couldn't help but worry he might have gripped her hard enough to leave bruises behind…still bruises were better than letting Alexis truly hurt herself.

"You were having a nightmare, calling out in your sleep, I was still awake and could hear you from my room and I thought it best to wake you before you hurt yourself.

"So Amanda isn't de…she's still alive?" Alexis gasped her nightmare had felt so real that she still wasn't sure what was real and what wasn't.

"Amanda is still with us…at least the last time I checked." Blake replied softly, he had guessed what Alexis had been dreaming about; it was the same thing that was keeping him from getting any sleep. "However if it would help reassure you I can ring the hospital and get the nurse to confirm it?"

Not trusting her voice Alexis nodded, watching Blake closely as he moved to pick up the telephone from her bedside table and dial what was by now a familiar number. He looked exhausted, far older than he had ever looked before.

There was uneven stubble on his chin, his hair was mussed from attempts at sleep or perhaps from the amount of times he had ran his fingers through it frustration. Even his rich silk dressing gown and soft cotton pyjamas seemed to hang off of his broad frame, and Alexis could only imagine that she looked much the same…Her nightmare had left her sweating, her pink satin nightgown sticking to her body and god knows what her hair must look like?

"Hello ICU…Yes this is Blake Carrington…No change…Thank you Nurse." Blake muttered softly before setting the receiver back down turning back to face a waiting Alexis. "Just the same as when we left."

"Oh thank god." Alexis sighed closing her eyes as relieved tears welled up behind her eyelids…tears that she sniffed back. "Thank you Blake…God it seemed so real, I really thought we had lost her…The doctor was there and there was another patient in her room…."

"Nightmares always seem real when you are stuck in them." Blake added softly, his hand hovering, caught between the desire to reach out and offer comfort and the fear that his genuine concern might be mistaken for taking advantage of the situation.

"Will you be alright now?"

Nodding Alexis could only watch behind lowered lashes as Blake reluctantly slid his hands back into the pockets of his dressing gown.

"Alright…Well then I suppose I'll just be…"

"You could stay."

The offer was falling from her lips before she could stop herself. Not that she would have taken it back. Part of her was still terribly shaken by her nightmare; it had seemed so real and could all too easily become a reality for them both. Right now the last thing she wanted was to be alone…to let the memory of that nightmare linger in her mind without anything to distract from it.

Besides Blake clearly was reluctant to head back to his empty room where he would undoubtedly fail to get any sleep and Alexis found herself dreading falling back to sleep where more nightmares awaited her. No doubt Dex would be furious if or when he found out but with everything else that Alexis had on her plate right now, Dex Dexter's jealousy hardly rated as important. Besides it wasn't like she was offering Blake her body, just a bit of mutual comfort and reassurance…and right now Alexis needed something to help ground her.

Frozen Blake tried to work out if the offer was genuine or merely a polite gesture on Alexis's part, yet there was something both hesitant and nervous in her tone and the way she lifted her emerald eyes to meet his. "Are you sure…I wouldn't want you to feel uncomfortable…"

Smiling at Blake's apprehension Alexis decided that in this case actions spoke louder and clearer than words. Scooting over to the other side of the bed she pulled back the cover and patted the empty space beside her.

Sharing a slight smile Blake untied his blue silk dressing down, draping it over the bedside chair before climbing up into the bed, snuggling under the covers and awkwardly lowering his head down onto the pillow. Yet even as he tried to relax he couldn't. How could he when he was unsure just what Alexis was expecting…did she want him to hold her…or was that too much?

Too worried to move instead Blake lay like a frozen statue trapped in purgatory with heaven practically in his grasp but all one short slip into hell.

Smiling as she snuggled down into her own pillow Alexis couldn't help but find the slightly pained expression on Blake's face amusing…Poor boy looked like he was sleeping on a bed of nails rather than a divinely comfortable king size bed in five hundred count Egyptian cotton sheets.

"I am not going to bite Blake."

Snorting in amusement Blake lifted one hand, emboldened by the softening look in Alexis's eyes he reached out and caught her hand…then just like he had at the hospital he linked their fingers together…not surprised when Alexis squeezed his fingers back.

"I'm not going anywhere if you want to try and get some sleep." Blake whispered softly, pleased when Alexis nodded taking him at his word and closing her eyes. A moment later he closed his own taking comfort and strength from their closeness…perhaps now he might be able to sleep, if only a little?

"Blake?"

"Hmmm." Blake murmured not opening his eyes even as Alexis shuffled closer and he could now feel the warmth from her body and the slight teasing of her breath on his face.

"Things are going to get better aren't they…there has to be something…some reason for all this?"

Sighing Blake was torn between wanting to reassure her…to take away the pain Alexis had to be feeling, because he knew he was…and yet Blake Carrington was not a man who willingly lied, and there was little real chance their daughter was going to recover. In the end there was only one answer he could give.

"Blake?" Alexis prompted tentatively reaching out and laying her free hand on Blake's chest when he didn't respond right away…surely he hadn't fallen asleep that quickly?

Feeling Alexis's hand on his chest, her fingers lightly and probably unconsciously tracing the collar of his pyjama shirt Blake could help but cave into the need to have Alexis close, to give her comfort even if he couldn't give her reassurance. Blake shifted and took an unresisting Alexis into his arms. Hearing her sigh softly as her face burrowed into his shoulder, Blake rested his cheek against her forehead before sighing himself and whispering back.

"God I hope so."

It was almost time.

One more glance at his watch had Frank assembling the things he needed, he was already wearing gloves, the Dexter letter was rolled up inside yesterday's New York Times and if everything else went to plan in a few hours Frank would be five million dollars richer and on his way to the airport.

Of course that was providing Dexter even turned up…still his sources had confirmed the arrival of Marin and Dex Dexter in Denver. The former had arrived a couple of days before her brother, but according to her contacts Dex had turned up himself the night before, checking into The Brown Palace of all places instead of joining his sister in the more luxurious Carlton.

Still Frank didn't much care about the state of the Dexter familiar relationships it was the state of their bank balances that was more pressing.

At first he had considering holding out and demanding more money…or perhaps giving them half of the letter and keeping the second revelation in its contents for another payment. Yet if Frank had learned something from his years in the police force it was that criminals or more to the point blackmailers slipped up when they let greed control them. If they were smart enough to settle for just the initial demand then nine times out of ten they got away with it. It was only when they asked for too much or hounded their victims that things got out of hand with either the mark loosing it or turning to the police in desperation.

Well Frank Dobson wasn't stupid, five million dollars was enough for him, enough to get him out of Denver and to find a hidehole somewhere…somewhere out of sight of his previous employer. The Davenports did not accept failure; just look what had happened to his predecessor and with the news of the Australian government accepting the Denver Carrington compensation offer and the subsequent recovery in the company's share price Frank knew that it wouldn't take long before the blame fell on him. That it was hardly his fault Alexis had jumped in to save a drowning Carrington wasn't an issue, he had failed repeatedly and the Davenports had a unique firing system that Frank was anxious to avoid.

Picking up his briefcase Frank had decided to leave the rest of his belongings behind…he had no intention of coming back here.

Shutting the door to his apartment Frank made his way down the stairs to the basement garage where he had stored the hire car he taken out under one of his old less than reputable alias's. Setting the briefcase on the passenger seat Frank frowned as he caught sight of some rubbish sticking out from underneath the seat. His fastidious nature offended by the fact that the company clearly hadn't bothered to clean the car properly before hiring it out again.

Leaning down to pick it up, intending to dump it the window, he realised his mistake all to late…a strong hand clamped down over his mouth. The strong distinctive smell of chloroform stinging his sense even has he struggled futilely in the grip of his captor before the drug finally did its work and Frank Dobson sunk into blessed unconsciousness.

Part 2:

The sun was firmly in the heavens by the time Frank woke, the foul taste of chloroform in his mouth was the first thing he realised, the second was that he was restrained, carefully restrained.

The large fabric cuffs securing his arms behind his back were designed to contain and not leave visible marks and that alone gave him cause to hope. Whoever it was who had abducted him either didn't want him harmed or they didn't want to leave signs of him being tied up, perhaps because they were planning on releasing him once they had what they wanted; after all if they had planned to simply kill him what would it matter if there were additional marks and bruises?

Of course being a policeman the alternative scenario also whirled around in his brain but Frank preferred to push that possibility aside…

Blinking his eyes against the bright sunlight Frank stared around the bright-unfurnished apartment. Tugging on his restraints one last time Frank quickly realised there was little chance of escape so that only left negotiation, "Hello, is anybody there?"

Yet there was no answer, if there was anyone else in the apartment they were determined to stick to their timetable and not change it to humour Frank. Clearly they intended to let him sit here and stew, to let the reality of his situation sink in a little. It was a move Frank recognised and would have employed himself which narrowed down the possible list of candidates…worryingly narrowed it down.

"I don't think they are going through with it." Marin sighed glancing at her watch, which now read half an hour after the supposed contact time. The had been told to go to some obscure roadside diner on the outskirts of Denver and wait for the phone in the booth to ring to give them further instructions.

However the phone had not rung once in the hour they had sat here, in fact the only activity at all was the giant greasy breakfast Dex had managed to swallow down along with what had to be nearly a gallon of coffee. Marin my contrast had chosen to forgo eating any food in a restaurant whose house special was something called 'The Intimidator' a 9lb breakfast monstrosity that looked like a coronary on a plate. Something even Dex wasn't stupid enough to try.

Speaking of the devil. Turning to stare at her dishevelled brother who didn't look like he had even bothered to shower or shave before coming out this morning Marin poked Dex in the side. "Are you even listening to me Dex?"

Grunting Dex lifted the coffee mug to his lips taking another swig of the vile brew.

"You know for someone who is being blackmailed you are surprisingly laid back about being stood up Dex." Marin added watching as her big brother merely shrugged his shoulders and continued to stare down into his coffee mug, an action that couldn't fail to get her back up.

It was bad enough that Dex had pulled a disappearing act back in Wyoming leaving her with Baby Jack on her hands. She had been mad at being left in the lurch but part of her had understood. Dex's whole world had been turned upside down, the man he had grown up thinking was his father wasn't and the grandfather he had practically worshipped had deceived him in the worst possible way.

Was it any wonder Dex had wanted to run far away and drown his sorrows in the bottom of a whisky bottle?

How many times when Sam had had another heart attack or stroke had Marin found herself keys in hand wanting nothing more than to runaway and keep running, anything to escape from the burden that seemed to sit squarely on her shoulders. The only difference between her and her brother was that she had been unable to runaway from her responsibilities as there was no one there to pick up her slack.

Still even her patience had its limits and this sullen unresponsive Dex was pushing her quickly towards them. Fed up with being ignored Marin reached out and yanked Dex's coffee mug out of his hands and slammed it down on the wipe clean table, luckily it was mostly empty so there was only a little splash back.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Dex exclaimed turning to face his sister who all but screeched in frustration and anger.

"Me!" Marin spat back shaking her head and standing up from the table, not even waiting for Dex as she stormed towards the exit, cursing all men with the last name Dexter.

"Marin wait…" Dex spluttered, watching his sister storm off with his briefcase…his briefcase containing five million dollars cash!

Getting out his wallet Dex slammed two twenties down on the surface, far more than their meal had cost but he didn't have time to wait for change as he chased his sister out to her Porsche, barely getting the door open as she turned the ignition and only three quarters in the car as she slammed it into gear,

"Jesus Marin!" Dex gasped his trailing foot dragging on the gravel as she hit the accelerator and Dex scrabbled to close the door. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Wrong with me?" Marin spat bitterly. "What is wrong with you don't you mean? You've sat there all morning and barely said two words to me. This blackmailer has stood us up and you said nothing. Dammit Dex this is our families reputation on the line, it doesn't just affect you!"

"I'm the dirty little secret…" Dex began bitterly only to be cut off by his sister.

"You're still a Dexter and besides you don't even live in Wyoming anymore. You love in Denver most of the time and here your name is better known than Daddy or even Grandfather. Oh people will gossip but they won't really care, they are far more interested in your love triangle with Blake Carrington. I'm the poor sod who would have to go back home and face everyone. I'm the one who will have to face people who have known our family for generations, back there this sort of thing won't ever go away, it'll be the first thing anyone will mention whenever our names are mentioned."

Marin paused her voice breaking slightly. "You may be hurting now Dex but eventually you'll deal with it and get over it or just move on. I'll have to live it!"

Sinking back into the Porsche's bucket seat Dex couldn't help but feel chastised. "I guess…I didn't think of it like that…I'm sorry Marin I should have…"

"Should have what?" Marin spat testily.

"There are so many things you should have done Dex, made peace with Daddy, helped me more whenever he was sick instead of leaving me to give up my life to care for him…Don't you think I might have had plans and dreams of my own…I wanted to travel you know, to see the world…I had a tripped booked and everything, me and some friends from college had it all planned out and then Daddy had his first heart attack and I have been trapped in that house ever since!"

Wincing as Marin's tone turned shrill Dex could only mumble his apologises. "I am sorry Marin but I can't do anything about the past…And as for today I have had rather a lot on my mind."

"Too bad!" Marin spat. "Now stop sitting there feeling sorry for yourself and start thinking, there has to be something we can do instead of just sitting around waiting for this bastard to contact us?"

Frowning slightly Dex tried to think but his head still ached from his hangover and that made thinking a little difficult. "What do you mean…you don't mean going to the press ourselves do you?"

"Not unless there is no other choice." Marin retorted her tone clipped as she forced her Porsche to take the turn a little too fast, smirking as Dex suddenly seemed a little green around the gills. "I was thinking more along the lines of trying to work out who is behind this blackmail attempt…and we could start by trying to work out when they got their hands on Daddy's letter."

Gripping onto the door handle of the sport car Dex suddenly remembered in terrifying clarity the number and value of each compensation claim he had been forced to handle after yet another one of his sisters little 'driving accidents' and he could only pray that today didn't end up joining that list.

"Alright but I don't see what good it will do…If you could drop me off at…"

"Oh no I am coming with you Dex." Marin cut in before Dex could ramble on.

"Marin I think it would be better if I did this by myself…You shouldn't go getting yourself involved in this it could get nasty."

Snorting at her brother's sudden concern for her welfare Marin dismissed his argument. "I am already involved because I am your sister and besides Dex this time I won't take no for an answer…"

Nothing had changed.

Well nothing had changed with Amanda she was still completely unresponsive and dependant upon the machinery keeping her bodily functions going.

Something had changed between her and Blake, if Alexis had to pick just one word to describe things then awkward covered it nicely.

Ever since they had woken in each others arms, their legs tangled up together, and each having a death grip on the other as if afraid they would vanish whilst the other slept, things had been stilted and slightly embarrassing. More for Blake perhaps as whilst Alexis had been able to hide the effect his closeness had on her Blake had not been quite so fortunate…

For a moment on waking it had almost been like nothing had changed…the last few months had been just a distant dream. Alexis had woken to Blake's arms around her, her head on his shoulder, his hand on her hip as his fingers unconsciously squeezed her buttock as his morning salutation nudged against her stomach. Sighing in contentment she arched against him sliding her foot along his calf, nuzzling her face into his neck Alexis had breathed him in, smiling to herself as Blake pressed kisses to her forehead and cheek. For a moment they had just lain there, perfectly content to doze in the others arms.

Then reality crashed back down…the memory of where they were and why, robbing the moment of any remainder of peace or joy and Blake pulled away and out of Alexis's arms so fast it was a wonder he didn't get whiplash.

It had been quite some time since Alexis had seen Blake go quite that red. After all Blake Carrington was a grown man and did not blush, yet he had done a damned good impression of it as he fled back to the privacy of his own bedroom.

After all what had seemed reasonable behaviour at three in the morning, sharing a bed and comfort when they were both upset and sleep deprived was one thing…it was quite a different matter in the cold light of day, after they had gotten some sleep and reality came crashing back in.

Since then conversation had been restricted to the immediate and the impersonal, arranging to leave for the hospital, ordering breakfast. In the car they had both sat as far apart as possible and rather than talk had stared out of their respective windows. Not that they could keep putting off this conversation forever. Alexis already missed the warmth and reassurance of Blake's arms around her. They needed each other if they were going to get through this impossible situation with their sanity intact.

As if sensing Alexis's heavy gaze on him Blake shifted, glancing towards the door. "I think I'll go and get some coffee…do you want anything?"

"Blake we need to talk about this." Alexis replied raising her gaze to meet Blake's defensive expression. "I know you don't want to but we can't just sit here ignoring the elephant in the room."

Swallowing nervously Blake nodded reluctantly, remaining in the room at her request he didn't retake his seat, instead hovering by the door just in case a quick escape became necessary. "I suppose I should apologise…"

"Why it was my idea?" Alexis cut in surprising Blake. "I wanted you there remember, you were hardly taking advantage…in fact if anyone was at fault here it was me I put you in a difficult position."

"I could have said no, I should have said no." Blake countered dropping his gaze as he added softly. "But I didn't want to…Alexis you know how I feel about you and I know you don't feel the same…you're with Dexter and I should have remembered that and said no…I enjoyed sharing a bed with you, it was more than just about comfort for me and I took advantage of the fact you were upset..."

"Really I don't recall being taken of advantage of, which is a shame as I recall you do it rather well." Alexis quipped answering Blake's shocked expression with a wry smile and raised eyebrow.

"Alexis I'm serious…"

"So am I!" Alexis snapped back, the words tripping off her tongue before her brain could catch up.

Fighting her own blush as Blake's gaze burned into her Alexis swallowed nervously before adding. "Look I know what you are trying to do Blake, but I am a big girl I wanted you there last night and I didn't feel taken advantage of or in the slightest bit offended by…well you know what I am talking about…in fact I'd probably be more offended if you hadn't been, it would have been quite the blow to my ego."

"But…"A bewildered Blake began yet it seemed Alexis was quite ready to let him get a word in edgeways.

"And as for the consequences for me and Dex…" Alexis paused unbidden the memories resurfaced of what had happened with Ethan; Alexis refused to call him by his other name. By contrast what had happened with Blake had completely innocent. If anything was going to destroy what remained of her relationship with Dex it was her indiscretion with Ethan…even if it hadn't been completely of her own choosing. Yet somehow Alexis doubted Dex or even Blake would see it quite that way and the guilt over how Blake especially would react twisted her stomach in knots.

"Well that is my relationship and I should be the one worrying about it not you. If I want to share a bed with you then I will, and if I don't want to then I will tell you so and I expect you to be just as honest with me." Alexis added firmly before pausing heat flushing her cheeks once again yet she forced herself to carry on.

"And I suppose in the spirit of honesty…Even thought I probably shouldn't have I..I enjoyed it too and I wouldn't be averse to doing it again…If you want to that is?"

Swallowing down that revelation Blake only trusted himself to nod in reply.

Waking up in Alexis's arms had been a heady combination of pleasure and pain, joy and heartache. He hadn't wanted to let her go but being unable to control Blake Jnr had left him with no choice but beat a hasty retreat. All morning he had been afraid that his lack of self-control had ruined what little trust they had managed to salvage between them.

Yet it seemed he wasn't as alone in his feelings had once believed. Alexis wanted to share a bed with him again…she wanted that closeness with him, which considering only a few months ago she had screamed in his face about being unable to ever trust him again gave Blake hope. Perhaps there was still a chance for them, no matter how slim.

Part 3a):

For probably the first time in her life when she passed by a mirror Fallon Carrington Colby didn't even feel tempted to glance at her reflection. The reason for that had been glaring obvious when she entered the bathroom that morning and caught a good look at the ugly purple bruise that spread from the cut on her forehead across her blackened eye and down to her cheekbone.

It looked nasty, far worse than the simple blow that had caused her to loose her balance and bang her head. In fact it looked damningly bad, in fact if anyone caught sight of her like this they would assume that Fallon had been beaten with force and Dex Dexter would probably be hounded out of Denver by a horde of pitchfork wielding former suitors.

Yet instead of revelling in the knowledge that she now held the power to destroy her mother's relationship with Dex in her hands, not something Fallon had ever actively sought even if she was certain that the absence of a certain cowboy might facilitate her parent's reconciliation a little sooner. Fallon felt sick with the weight of it.

Part of her wanted to use this gift that had fallen into her lap…Her parents loved each other still very deeply of that Fallon was certain and Blake was miserable, and as his daughter that wasn't an easy thing to live with. Plus there was a sense of inevitability around her parents that tried to coax Fallon into using every advantage. If they were destined for each other and Dex was bound to get hurt regardless then surely it wouldn't wrong to speed up the process…like ripping off a plaster it was better to get it over with quickly?

And yet it was a lie.

Dex hadn't meant to hit her, and it had been the fall that had done the worst damage. And as much as she wanted her parents back together, was this really the best way? To force the decision on her mother when she already had so much else to deal with? Her father had always insisted that lies had a way of coming to the surface eventually and that they invariably did far more harm than the truth.

And yet Fallon was torn. The throbbing tender bruise merely an outward sign of her inner turmoil, which had Fallon calling in sick to work for the first time ever. Not that she would even consider letting anyone see her looking like this. Besides she had a manager to cover for her, that was what she paid him for, and after a phone call to Krystle feigning a terrible cold it had been only too easy to convince her to keep the children until Fallon was well enough to have them back.

Still that left her curled up alone in her room with nothing to distract her but this terrible decision and her nagging guilt for company. Well that was until there was a gentle rap on her door.

"I really don't need anything Lin." Fallon called out, her mother's ever-attentive mojo domo had been both a blessing and an annoyance.

"Wrong house hunk, I can go get him if you prefer? I just didn't thing he was quite your type" Jackson's teasing voice called out, causing Fallon to freeze slightly her guilt only intensifying as she memory of Jackson's care and attentiveness the night before came back along with the memory of his almost unhinged reaction to Dex striking her.

"No thank you Jackson, did you want anything?"

"Just to check on you." Jackson answered. "Fallon do we have to do this through the door?"

"No I just…" Fallon paused squashing down the fleeting outrage of her vanity.

Jackson was the last person she would want to see her like this, bruised and without a stitch of makeup, her hair a ragged mess pulled back into a ponytail. And yet he was the only one who already knew…well knew some of what happened and somehow the prospect of spending the rest of the day alone and trapped in her room brightened considerably if Jackson was added to the equation.

"Come on I've got you an ice pack and I smuggled some ice cream out of the kitchen…better hurry up and let me in before it melts and Alexis sues me for the damage to her carpet."

Grudgingly rising from her armchair Fallon wandered over to the door, opening it just enough to allow Jackson to enter before shutting it behind him.

"Ouch that came up a treat." Jackson winced his eyes widening at the nasty looking bruising on Fallon's face, regretting his words when Fallon immediately shuddered and turned her bruised cheek away from him.

"I'm sorry it must hurt like hell and you don't need me to tell you what it looks like." Jackson back peddled, offering up the ice pack as a peace offering. "Here it helps believe me."

Accepting the pack, Fallon pressed it to her face; the icy cold taking her a little by surprise but then the cold began to sooth her heated skin. "Why am I not surprised you would have had your fair share of these…But thank you."

"You're welcome." Jackson answered softly, his blue eyes raking in concern over Fallon's face. "You know you don't have to hide away in here…you haven't done anything wrong!"

Flinching at the emphatic way Jackson declared that belief in her Fallon couldn't meet his eye. There was something about Jackson's genuine concern for her that made this situation doubly worse than he had felt moments before.

"We were arguing… he was drunk…I should have known better than to provoke him." Fallon hedged, surprised when Jackson reached out and grasped her chin, gently lifting her gaze to meet his own.

"That is never a good enough excuse, no woman deserves to be hit no matter what the provocation! I know I lived through it when I was a kid, I've heard every excuse before." Jackson added softly yet firmly even as his own voice wavered slightly at the brief mention of the childhood he would rather forget.

"Dexter can try and excuse his behaviour, hell he may even try and claim it was an accident but we know better than that. I refuse to stand by and let him get away with this Fallon."

Frozen by the determination in Jackson's voice, Fallon didn't have to fake her fear her voice trembled for genuine. "What are you going to do?"

Yet whilst Jackson took this for fear over Dexter and pulled an unresisting Fallon into his arms and hugged her gently. Fallon couldn't help the sick feeling of guilt as it twisted at her guts, this was wrong, and yet there was something about being held by Jackson, of being cared for by Jackson that somehow made it worth it.

"I'm going to take care of it and you…you don't have to be afraid Fallon, I won't let Dexter have the chance to hurt this family ever again."

Part 3b):

If there was one thing worse than sitting by Amanda's bedside watching their daughter's still frame and watching the life slowly ebb out of her, it was being forced to sit in the waiting room whilst the nurses performed their routine tasks of turning and bathing Amanda, changing her drips and her catheter. Still if it meant his daughter was given some measure of dignity whilst such delicate tasks were performed Blake Carrington was willing to suffer through it; that and the terrible coffee that Alexis had forced on him before she ventured off bravely to find something remotely edible in the hospital shop for them both.

"Mr Carrington…" Startled by the sudden sound of his name Blake glanced up, a slight frown gracing his brow as he caught sight of the doctor that had tried to convince them to give up on their daughter and also the one that had ordered them to leave the hospital and get some sleep. Still at least one of his suggestions had some merit. Blake had finally been able to get a few hours sleep wrapped in Alexis's arms and as such his temper was on a more even keel.

"Doctor."

"Will Mrs Colby be long?"

"That depends on whether you are going to try and get her alone and convince her to murder her own daughter." Blake grumbled, slightly regretting the harshness of his words when the young doctor flinched at his bitterness.

"I am sorry you feel that way Mr Carrington. As my patient I only have Amanda's best interest at heart and had I any possible hope for a recovery no matter how slight I would pursue it."

Sighing Blake ran his hands through his hair, ruffling the silver curls that without his usual careful grooming refused to lie flat. "No I am sorry that was uncalled for Doctor, your care of my daughter has been exemplary and I wouldn't want you to think me ungrateful."

"Thank you…Actually I just wanted to reassure you that I have ordered a more extensive round of tests, everything this time not just the standard battery for a head trauma patient. If there is anything we could have missed then I want to be sure of it…" The doctor paused.

"However I fear I should caution you Mr Carrington, it is my medical opinion that these tests won't tell us anything we don't already know, save for whether your daughter's anaemic or her blood sugar level…"

Nodding Blake understood what the young man was trying to tactfully say. The doctor hadn't changed his opinion about removing life support and the longer this terrible situation continued and the more and more pale and distraught Blake watched Alexis become, even Blake Carrington felt his implacable resolve slipping.

"If…and I mean if…" Blake began catching the Doctor's attention and drawing him over to the window for a modicum of privacy. "If we changed our position, if we signed the papers, how…what…" Blake hesitated closing his eyes as he even dared to let the idea pass through his mind.

"How would we go about it?" The doctor prompted and he watched carefully as Blake sighed and nodded.

"Well after the paperwork is signed, I would have another doctor confirm my diagnosis for the hospital records and then after discussion with yourselves we would arrange a time to turn off the machinery. It would be on your timetable, if you wanted a priest to be here then we can arrange that…or perhaps if you wanted to delay things to allow Amanda's siblings to come and say goodbye. There is no need to rush into anything."

Swallowing as he allowed the distasteful idea to settle Blake only trusted himself to nod, lost in his own world so that he didn't notice the Doctor called away by one of the nurses who had Blake been paying attention would have appeared panicked. It was only as the conversation in rapid French appeared heated that Blake paid it any attention.

"What it is it? What's wrong?"

Shaking with anger the doctor turned back to Blake, "I am very sorry Mr Carrington but the police had assured me they had taken every precaution…Yet it seems despite everything…The nurse just informed me that when she went back into Amanda's room to collect the old sheets she found someone else other than you or your wife in her room. When she demanded he leave, he refused…He says he has a right to be there…that he is Amanda's husband."

"What husband?" Blake spat shaking his head. "Who the hell is this impostor my daughter was divorced and she hadn't remarried." Blake scoffed storming past the angry doctor and the frightened nurse. Taking the familiar route to Amanda's room at a run, stopping dead in the doorway as a familiar looking man looked up and glared at him.

Stepping into the room Blake felt his hands close into fists, his anger boiling beneath him as the young man had the nerve to look at him like he was intruding. Well no one pushed Blake Carrington around and he wanted answers, and he wanted them now!

"What the hell do you think you are doing in here?"

Part 4:

He had been here for hours. His throat was dry and his bladder felt uncomfortably full. Still Frank had no idea just how long his captors were planning on keeping him here. He had already given up shouting out, there was nobody here or if there was they were clearly ignoring him. Part of him just wished they would hurry up and get it over with, beat him…kill him…just not leave him sitting here alone with nothing but his own worrying thoughts for company and the ever growing threat of wetting himself.

Then a sudden noise in the silent apartment caught his attention, the sound of a lock turning, and Frank had to retract his earlier thought…perhaps being left to wait, alive and uninjured, wasn't such a bad thing after all.

Still of all the people Frank was expecting, the smiling and very smartly dressed business man who entered took him somewhat by surprise.

As if reading the perplexed expression on Frank's face the handsome man's smile changed into a smirk before settling back into polite neutrality.

"Who are you?" Frank couldn't hold back his question. "What do you want with me…" Frank's words were cut off as the dark haired business man laughed, his dark eyes twinkling dangerously.

"Come now Dobson I'm hurt. Why don't you use that famous sharp mind of yours…"

"Mr Davenport…" Frank recognised the voice immediately; it had haunted his own nightmares on occasion, the deep almost gravelly baritone was very distinctive and Frank would know it anywhere.

"Bingo." Davenport answered smugly. "See I knew there was a reason I hired you."

Swallowing nervously as all his worst nightmares seemed to be on the point of coming true, still even Frank couldn't contain his surprise. He had built up a mental picture of his mysterious employer over the years and he had always assumed him to be much older than the dark haired dark eyed man in front of him. This Mr Davenport couldn't be more than forty something? He looked fit and healthy and the only hint of age was at his temples flecked with steely grey.

"Mr Davenport sir, what are you doing here?...What am I doing here?"

"Come now Dobson you didn't think I'd let you stomp around making sweeping statements in my name and get away with it did you? Especially ultimatums that failed to deliver… You were tasked with delivering up Denver Carrington on a platter and you failed not once but twice, and my patience has a limit for incompetence."

Struck dumb Frank Dobson felt a shiver of dread, remembering all too clearly the ultimatum he made to DC board. He had stretched the truth a little; it was his plan alone to pitch for the CEO job. Having let Carrington's shares slip through his fingers at the last minute Frank had been desperate to secure something that might appease his notoriously difficult to please employers.

For a while his gamble had almost paid off. Jeff Colby hadn't been able to secure a deal with the Australian government and the CEO position was all but the Davenports to control…And then Alexis had gotten involved and somehow she had pulled off the impossible, god knows what means she had used, her ruthless instinct to go for the jugular on all occasions was one of her most attractive qualities in Frank's eyes. Still in the unfortunate side effect from Frank's perspective was the Australian deal cemented Jeff Colby's position as DC's CEO.

Studying him as if he were an unsavoury specimen under microscope Mr Davenport's dark eyes narrowed is distaste.

"That was a sloppy move and the Davenport family is never sloppy. You set our bid to gain control of Denver Carrington back and it has cost us dearly. Still at least your plan provided some sort of distraction, whilst Alexis and Jeff Colby have been busy thinking they are saving themselves in Australia other associates of mine have been persuading or bringing pressure to bear on Denver Carrington Stockholders. Already they have been able to up our stock percentage from 35% to almost 39%, three percent more and we equal the Colby share, 4 percent and we are the new majority stockholders...There is only one board member left to approach. Of course none of this time, effort and money would have been necessary if you had simply done your job in the first place!"

"And I can only apologise for that Mr Davenport…I was blindsided by Alexis's Colby bailing out of Carrington but I should have seen it coming. If I could do anything to change things I would…" Frank paused a sudden eureka moment coming upon him.

"I think I might have a way for you to get the rest of the stock you need…" Frank paused his ice blue eyes watching his former employer closely; he could see the flicker of interest in those dark impenetrable depths. "I have in my position a certain letter in my briefcase, some information that the Dexter family would pay handsomely to keep to themselves."

Those dark eyes pinned Dobson in place, as the sharp mind behind them dissected his words and body language. "That might prove useful…Perhaps it might be possible to find a way for you to redeem yourself, to wipe the slate clean of your earlier indiscretions."

Sighing in relief Frank was momentarily pleased his hands were bound behind him as he could only imagine how badly they must be shaking. "I would be happy to help your endeavours in anyway I can…Did you have something particular in mind?"

Smiling secretively Mr Davenport answered cryptically. "Oh you are going to help; in fact your cooperation is essential in preparing a wonderful little surprise for Jeff Colby."

Part 4b):

"What the hell do you think you are doing in here?" Blake's question hung in the air, his dark eyes blazing as they met the gaze of the young man who was the force for his anger and outrage.

"I would think the more pressing question is who the hell are you?" The fair-haired young man by the side of Amanda's bed demanded blue eyes narrowing imperiously. "And how dare you come barging in here?

"I am Amanda's father, Blake Carrington." Blake spat back his dark eyes taking the measure of the impostor before him. "There is no need to introduce yourself Mr Demeter…your _reputation_ precedes you."

"As does yours Mr Carrington." Andrei sneered his tone sarcastic as he added. "My dear Amanda mentioned her darling daddy on occasion, I can assure you the terms she used weren't favourable."

Swallowing down the feeling of failure Blake refused to allow Andrei to change the subject, his relationship with Amanda or lack thereof was none of the younger man's business. "Whereas I have never so much as heard of you before coming to Monaco, neither had Amanda's mother, which considering you are claiming to be married to our daughter has taken us somewhat by surprise."

"Amanda is a grown woman she has no need to ask for her parents permission to marry the man she loves and we are married." Andrei paused reaching into the pocket of his dark tailored jacket and retrieving a folded piece of paper.

"I have it here in black and white, we married a month ago. I was a wonderful ceremony, intimate with only those closest to us in attendance…you and Amanda's mother were not on the guest list."

Snatching the paper out of Andrei's hands Blake unfolded it and found himself staring down at a marriage certificate. The details were in French but Blake could recognise his daughter's distinctive signature next to her printed name. It looked official and yet Blake simply couldn't believe that Amanda would have been foolish enough to marry a man like this and without even informing either of her parents.

"It's a fake!" Blake pronounced slapping the certificate down on the bedside table.

"It is genuine and since the police can no longer continue to harass me and keep me from my darling Amanda's side, perhaps you should reconsider your tone Mr Carrington or I will have no choice but to have security escort you out!"

Frozen as those words struck him Blake felt a terrible sense of foreboding strike him. "You don't have the power to do that…"

"Oh I think you will find that I do, we are married Mr Carrington which therefore makes me my wife's next of kin. So perhaps you consider your next words very carefully. Now I will give you some time alone to think it over, I want to have a talk with my wife's doctor." Andrei pronounced, standing up from his brief bedside vigil and tugging his jacket straight before swaggering over to the door brushing past Blake on the way past.

Ashen faced Blake sank into the now free chair, his hand automatically going to take Amanda's hand in his own as he stared at her serenely peaceful face. "Oh Amanda what have you done."

"Blake what on earth is going on, I could have sworn I had just seen Andrei Demeter in the corridor…what was that man doing in here?" Alexis demanded before she was even completely through the door, her panic only increasing when instead of answering immediately Blake continued to stare at their sleeping daughter.

"They're married…he's her husband…the police must have let him go…I don't know…" Blake trailed off shrugging his shoulders as he tore his gaze to meet Alexis's horrified emeralds.

"But that means…"

"He's her next of kin and he has gone to talk to the doctor." Blake finished for her as the realisation settled in and terrible truth became obvious to them both. "He has the power to sign the paperwork and have them remove artificial support and there is nothing we would be able to do to stop him."

Part 5:

Alexis Colby was fuming. She felt trapped and so she paced the length of the suite, her fist clenching around the lit cigarette that occasionally she remembered to take a draw on. Yet even the nicotine did nothing to calm her. Nothing could, nothing save maybe a tranquilliser dart.

"Alexis…" Blake began watching as his love worked herself into even more of a frenzy. Yet Alexis seemed oblivious to even his presence as she stalked up and down the room. So instead Blake made a small detour watching Alexis made him dizzy so he concentrated on pouring them both large brandies instead.

When Alexis made her next pass and paused to stab her cigarette out viciously in the crystal ashtray, pressing down on the innocent little stub until it was nothing more than a mangled mess, then Blake pressed the drink into her hand.

"Alexis please drink this…try to calm down…"

"Calm down!" Alexis hissed rounding on Blake her eyes narrowing on him. Yet she didn't seem to really be focusing on him at all, her eyes were distant…her mind was probably still at the hospital since that was undoubtedly the focus of her thoughts.

"I have absolutely no intention of calming down like a good girl Blake…That man dares to waltz into our daughter's hospital room after he tried to have her killed and has the gall to inform you he is her husband and will be making the decision for her care from now on. Well he is not going to get away with this…He will pay for what he has done to my baby, I will make certain of that…"

Worried by the slightly hysterical tone and the way as she ranted Alexis seemed to shake with barely contained rage Blake stepped in front of her, stopping Alexis dead in her tracks. Grasping her firmly by the upper arms his concern only grew as Alexis continued on oblivious, muttering threats under her breath to Andrei Demeter's health and bodily parts.

Rubbing her arms to try and elicit a reaction Blake was momentarily relieved when that seemed to bring Alexis back to him, even if her anger was accidentally misdirected on to him it was better than having Alexis rant and rave as if he wasn't even present.

"We have to make him pay Blake!"

"And we will if I have anything to say about it…" Blake answered soothingly yet Alexis was in no mood to be placated by sentiments, even by him; she wanted action not empty promises.

"How?" Alexis's demand was petulant and almost childlike and for a moment Blake had to fight down the wave of painful recognition…that small pout, those eyes wide looking to him for answers…god had he been so blind over the years or had he just not wanted to see the obvious. It was a gesture so reminiscent of Amanda or even of Fallon that it made his heart ache, clearly it was more than just physical attributes that were genetic.

Sighing Blake had no choice but to answer honestly. "I don't know yet…but whatever we do we need to tread carefully." Blake muttered his heart clenching as Alexis scoffed and brushed his loose embrace aside.

However at least this time she didn't resume her frantic pacing. Instead moving over to the large comfortable window seat set into the deep bay window that dominated the living room of their suite. Sinking down into its comfortably embrace Alexis stared out at the inky darkness, the blackness broken by speckles of light that twinkled invitingly.

Was this her punishment?

When she had first gotten the call from Fallon Alexis hadn't been able to completely shake that thought and now when more and more things seemed to be going wrong for them it returned in startling force. Was this god's way of punishing her for that debacle with Ethan?

Was it not enough that the memories of that night and the startling and disturbing revelation of Ethan's real identity and paternity still haunted her nightmares? Was this crisis with Amanda simply further punishment for her own actions that had allowed that situation to occur?

She had enjoyed flirting with Ethan; she had been flattered by his attentions. Alexis had even entertained the notion of sleeping with him…she had been tempted…Dex was on the other side of the world and it wasn't as though she hadn't enjoyed the perks of a casual affair once or twice before.

Yet Ethan had taken that true choice from her, he had warped her judgement and had taken advantage of the base attraction she had for him…Alexis had always had something of a weakness for men with dark eyes, yet now she knew exactly where those fine dark eyes had came from it made her sick to her stomach.

"Alexis…" Blake's deep throaty baritone and the feeling of his hands on her shoulders stirred her guilt…if Blake ever knew what had happened then he would never forgive her…for sleeping with his son, or for keeping the fact that she now knew Thomas Carrington was far from as dead as his father thought.

"Blake I'm so sorry." Alexis's voice was full of her emotion, even breaking slightly at the end. "This is all my fault I…"

"Hey stop that right now." Blake cut in, lowering himself to sit behind her, wrapping his arms around Alexis he pulled her back to rest against his chest. "The only one at fault in this Mr Demeter."

Leaning back against Blake Alexis placed her hands over his and squeezed them gently. "Oh but if you knew…"

"Alexis you weren't the only one to fail Amanda, out of the two of us I was the one she hasn't spoken to since she left Denver."

"But I was the one to ruin her relationship with Michael Culhane…If I hadn't interfered…"

"Or if I had accepted him instead of fighting against him." Blake chipped in before Alexis could take the blame for something that sat just as equally on his shoulders. "Darling don't beat yourself up over all of this, it won't do any good, it won't help Amanda and that is all we should be worrying about right now."

Guiltily soaking up the comfort Blake offered her Alexis tried to push away thoughts that she didn't deserve it. Perhaps she didn't, perhaps she would pay for it later but life wasn't known for its fairness so Alexis would take what small pleasures she could when she could.

Turning slightly in his arms so that her cheek rested against his shoulder and she could feel the stead beat of his heart under her palm. "You haven't called me that in a while."

"hmmm, haven't I?" Blake asked lightly, trying to cover his embarrassment at having slipped and fallen back into their old patterns. "I'm sorry if I overstepped…"

Comfort was one thing but Blake doubted very much that Alexis was prepared to accept anything more than friendship from him…she had made that feeling plain on more than one occasion since he had realised what a colossal mistake he had made breaking her heart.

"I don't mind…I always liked the way you called me that, you have a rather wonderful sounding voice Blake and there has always been something about the way you say Darling…" Alexis trailed off sporting her own blush. "Well it made me feel special."

"You are special, very special to me." Blake answered softly, closing his eyes and drawing in the smell of her perfume and the warmth of Alexis in his arms.

"We can get through this Alexis, together we can get through anything…I am just so sorry it has taken me this long to realise it, if I hadn't been such a fool then we would never have drifted apart and we'd probably be celebrating our 35th anniversary in a few weeks."

"You remembered…"

"Well we only got married the one time and you just don't forget a thing like that…not that November is considered a traditional wedding month, a little cold for most people's tastes."

"Well most people weren't eloping because of a little pre wedding surprise." Alexis scoffed a smile tugging at her lips. "Do you think Adam has ever worked that one out…I mean he is rather smart, and I imagine even he realises that premature babies don't arrive everyday weighing eight pounds five ounces."

Snorting with laughter Blake could only wonder about that. "I imagine he probably has but in the long run a couple of weeks here or there didn't make any difference."

"Except with my mother who undoubtedly then told my father." Alexis answered sadly. "They didn't even come over for his christening, and Daddy was always distant on the phone when ever I called them after that…after a while there just didn't seem to be any point anymore and it hurt too much to hear that disappointment in his voice. Mother I really didn't care about, I had been a disappointment to her most of my life but Daddy…"

"I am sorry the two of you didn't have a chance to make up." Blake added, and he was genuinely sorry for that. There always seemed to be time for these things until there wasn't.

_Blake could still remember the flat tone to his wife's voice when he had made one of the rare phone calls back to the mansion whilst he was off on one of his business trips. Calls he had started to avoid making due to the amount of abuse he would get from Alexis whenever he told her he would be longer than originally anticipated. Instead he had started to place the calls when he expected her to be out just so he could talk to the nanny about Fallon. _

However on the day in question Blake had almost winced when instead of Joseph answering the phone he had gotten an unusually subdued Alexis. When she had began to ask when he would be home, Blake had lost his temper and told her when he was good and ready, allowing himself to vent his frustration with the current lack of progress with his negotiations onto his wife.

_His one sided diatribe had lasted a good thirty seconds before Blake had realised Alexis wasn't arguing back like she normally would. Instead the voice at the other end was strangely absent and only her breathing could be heard with a telltale hitch that made a cooling Blake begin to regret his hasty behaviour. He was just about to apologise when his wife's flat tone cut him off. Alexis informed him in curt tones that since that was the case then it wasn't likely he would be accompanying her to England and that it was probably be for the best in any case. Her father hadn't taken to her choice of husband when he was alive and she could only imagine that wouldn't change now he was dead._

_Then the line had gone dead, and no matter how many times Blake had called the mansion and asked Joseph to put Mrs Carrington on the phone the answer had been the same, Mrs Carrington wasn't available at the moment. Unable to even think about concentrating on his deal and wracked with guilt, Blake had cancelled his meetings and travelled through the day and the following night to get back home. Yet upon arriving he was informed that Mrs Carrington and Miss Fallon had taken the night flight to London. _

_Then Blake had hung about the airport until he had been able to board a plane to England, arriving the day of the funeral. He had arrived at the church whilst the ceremony was already underway and rather than disrupt proceedings had hung back away from prying eyes as Alexander Steven Morell was laid to rest in the small parish churchyard surrounded by friends and family. Yet Blake's eyes hadn't been on the coffin as it had been lowered into the ground but on the slim figure of his young wife who stood by bedecked in black clutching the infant Fallon to her like a lifeline._

_Blake continued to watch spellbound as tear fell down her cheeks and she didn't so much as lift a hand to brush them away. He watched as people began to leave and Alexis remained. He watched as Elizabeth Morell approached her eldest daughter and undoubtedly uttered yet another spiteful comment before turning and leaving Alexis alone save for the child in her arms. Blake moved then, crossing the churchyard in record time to catch Alexis just as her knees seemed to give way. _

_He had whisked her away then, taking time off from Denver Carrington to try and be there for Alexis. He had taken her and Fallon on holiday, a few days in London, then Paris, even a short trip on the Orient Express. Eventually the dull haunted look left Alexis's eyes and they returned to Denver and Blake to Denver Carrington and a few weeks after that Alexis discovered the other lingering result of the family tragedy. _

_Eight short months later Steven Daniel Carrington came into the world screaming his little lungs out whilst his father forgot the important lesson life had tried to teach him about family. Choosing instead to finish his board meeting rather than return home when a frantic Hilda had called the office to announce Mrs Carrington had gone into labour. Blake had assumed there was plenty of time; Alexis's previous labours had taken over ten hours. So when he walked into the mansion less than three hours later to be confronted with the latest edition to the Carrington household Blake had taken one look at his wife's hurt expression and agreed without argument to naming their son after the grandfather who would never get to see his namesake._

"Blake? Are you alright?" Alexis's concerned voice jarred Blake back to the present and he was almost startled to gaze down into her face so full of concern for him. "You seemed to drift off on me for a moment back there?"

Reaching up Blake couldn't resist cradling Alexis's cheek, running his thumb along her cheekbone. "I have never truly said how sorry I was for ruining your relationship with your father Alexis…I guess I just didn't understand it back then…I had never been particularly close to my own father and I didn't want to share you with anyone, not even Alexander."

"Blake it wasn't just you, it was Mother dripping her poison and partly my own fault, I could have kept on trying but I gave up. There is plenty of blame to go around here."

"I still let you down when you needed me…I am sorry for that Alexis and for so much more, the way I neglected you during our marriage, and I can admit it now I asked too much from you. I left you all alone with barely any friends and no family support and expected you to remain the perfect wife, the ever steadfast and faithful Penelope. That was an unrealistic fantasy and when it shattered I punished you cruelly for just being fallible and human. I was wrong and I am so sorry Darling."

Reaching up Alexis pressed her fingers across Blake's lips, unwilling to hear more self-loathing fall from his lips. "Thank you…I guess I have been waiting to hear you say that for a long time but the past is over Blake, nothing can change it. All we can do it learn from our mistakes and try are hardest not to repeat them…I can't say I have completely forgiven you for what you did. I don't think the hurt of loosing my children like that will ever entirely heal but finally hearing you say out loud you were wrong is a start."

Kissing her fingers lovingly Blake reached up and caught Alexis's hand turning it over and kissing her palm and then the inside of her wrist. Feeling Alexis's fingers brush his cheek Blake gazed down into her upturned face. Her eyes glittered with unshed tears as their gazes locked before his eyes drifted momentarily down to her lips mere inches from his own.

Blake was going to kiss her…Alexis wanted him to kiss her…the tension between them building until Alexis felt a shiver of anticipation run through her, unable to stop herself biting her bottom lip in anticipation and drawing Blake's gaze back to it.

The sudden shrill ring of the telephone was like a bucket of freezing cold water thrown over them and Blake sighed in disappointment as Alexis pulled away as if scolded and rushed to answer it.

"Hello Alexis Colby speaking….Oh hello Doctor…No we can come…Oh my god yes…no thank you for calling us we'll be there as soon as we can." Setting the phone down with a shaking hand Alexis looked up to feel the weight of Blake's concerned gaze on her.

"What is it?"

"That was Amanda's doctor…we need to get to the hospital right away. Andrei has called for another consultant to take over Amanda's case. He suspects they intend to turn off her machines without even consulting us…Blake we can't just let him do that!"

"Oh we won't…" Even if I have to stop Demeter by ending that miserable bastards life myself then I will do it, Blake added mentally, getting to his feet and joining Alexis as she rushed out of the door. A lifetime spent behind bars was a small price to pay to saving his daughter's life and avenging her suffering, and if the law couldn't make Andrei Demeter pay for his crimes then by god's witness Blake Carrington would!

Part 6a):

"He cannot get away with this, there must be something you can do to stop him?" Blake demanded turning from Amanda's former doctor to the Interpol officer who had first interviewed them. "Can't we get an injunction or something?"

"From the moment I got your call Mr Carrington I have had my team working on it." The Officer sighed, "We had also assumed the certificate was a fake but when my team managed to track down the judge who had performed the ceremony and showed him one of our surveillance photographs he actually confirmed marrying your daughter and Mr Demeter…legally we have no grounds to challenge his right as next of kin…He is your daughter's husband."

"But…but what about Amanda's car…your forensics confirmed there was a mechanical fault with the breaks that looked like sabotage, surely you must have been able to find someone willing to talk?" Blake pushed clutching at straws.

"Andrei Demeter is a ruthless man Mr Carrington. He runs his household with an iron fist, when our officers called there was no one who could give us anything of use and no one was willing to talk to us without their boss's personal lawyer on hand to keep them to their script. Don't let that thuggish exterior fool you the man is far from an idiot. He would have hired a professional to damage the car and then made sure the man was far from Monaco by the time Amanda took that car out."

"So what you are saying officer is that you can do nothing, you are powerless to find justice for our daughter and you are just as incompetent when it comes to stopping this bastard from finishing the job he started, only this time it will be perfectly legal?" Alexis interjected coolly, her tone piercing like shards of ice.

"Mrs Col…" 

"And in the meantime you expect us to simple sit by and wait as every minute that passes that man gets closer to ending our daughter's life!" Alexis added cutting the Interpol officer off, her voice rising in volume as her tenuous control slipped ever further.

"Mrs Colby I can only imagine the hell you are going through but I must caution you not to contemplate any less that above board solutions…not only because I am an officer of the law and will be honour bound to try and stop you but because Andrei Demeter has friends who make him look like a pussy cat. You may be able to find a less than legal way to stop him but you will put the rest of your family at risk. These people won't just stop with a threat or blackmail, they will torture and kill everyone you have ever cared about, probably anyone even remotely connected with you. All to send a message that they are not to me messed with."

"I am someone not to be messed with." Alexis hissed back her emerald eyes cold as flint. "And if all you can do it stand there and lecture me on right and wrong when my daughter's murderer is about to finish her off then might I suggest you leave officer…I for one cannot stand to look at your sanctimonious face a moment longer."

"Alexis…" Blake cautioned yet there was no stopping his ex-wife when she got up a head of steam, all there was for it was the stand well back and be on hand to pick up the pieces.

"No Blake how do we know that he's not one of them?" Alexis turned to her ex-husband, watching as the suspicion took light in his own eyes. "It would hardly be the first time we've come up against a corrupt official…How do we know he hasn't just buried any evidence and is now in here trying to stall us whilst Demeter is signing my daughter's life away?"

"Normally I would consider such comments as slander Mrs Colby but since you have decent reason to be distraught I will over look them…"

"And yet she has a point Mr….You refuse to even give us your name and you expect us to take your word for everything." Blake retorted as Alexis moved to stand by his side. "How can we trust you? Amanda's life is on the line and you have done nothing to help us. Everyone can see this is morally wrong, why don't you try following the spirit of the law rather than the letter of it and help us find a way to stop this, even if it means bending a few regulations?"

"I could go hurry the rest of the test results I ordered." Amanda's doctor cut in, ending the tense stalemate, and yet he swallowed nervously when suddenly all eyes were on him. "I mean it's a long shot there isn't anything other some standard blood work tests and a few output tests but if we could show any improvement, no matter how slight, any medical cause then we might be able to use that to stop this?"

Sighing the officer added hesitantly. "And I suppose I could have a word with a few of my contacts…it isn't exactly legal but perhaps if we can get Demeter out of the room long enough we could manage to smuggle Amanda out of the hospital somehow…He can sign as many pieces of paper as he likes then but they're pretty meaningless if he can't find her?"

"You can do that?" Alexis's voice was devoid of her previous hysteria, now there lingered a faint flicker of hope.

"I can try but it will take time to arrange…I just don't know if we will have enough?"

Part 6b):

Taking a deep breath Alexis rested her hand on the door handle, then schooling her features into her best Alexis Colby mask she pushed open the door. This was one performance that couldn't fail, it had to be word perfect, her daughter's life might well depend upon it.

Stepping into the room her blood ran cold at the picture in front of her. Andrei and what could only be Amanda's new consultant in deep discussion as they looked through a thick sheaf of paperwork.

"Can I help you, this a private discussion Madam…Immediate next of kin only…." The consultant began only to be surprisingly silenced by Andrei.

"I don't think we need to hide anything doctor, Mrs Colby is perfectly aware of her daughter's prognosis by now and it is not like we have any need to be secretive."

Biting her tongue Alexis forced herself to nod her head, watching with a growing feeling of dread as the consultant grunted and returned to his notes.

"The decision is of course yours Mr Demeter but your wife's condition is terminal, there is no discernible higher brain function. I concur with my predecessor's recommendation for cessation of additional support…of course the decision about whether or not to follow that advice remains in your hands."

"Thank you Doctor, I will think about what you have told me." Andrei's voice sounded far to composed to Alexis's ears. He might as well have been deliberating over a choice of specials on a menu, and she could feel the weight of his gaze on her even as the consultant took that as his cue to leave, leaving the two of them alone.

"Well first the righteous angry father and now is this the concerned loving mother? I must admit I am surprised you kept me waiting so long; I have been expecting you to turn up and demand I leave my wife's side for hours. Don't tell me you are loosing your touch Mrs Colby, or did it really take you that long to discover that I was telling the truth? That Amanda is really my wife?"

"Mr Demeter." Alexis greeted her daughter's husband coolly allowing her eyes to skim over her newest son-in-law and finding him distinctly lacking. True there was a basic masculine charm about him, he had a broad muscular frame and a strong square jaw but his blue eyes were cold and calculating and Alexis shivered in their gaze.

"So have you come to try and appeal to my sentimental side?" Andrei demanded his blue eyes locked on Alexis as he tracked her movements across the room, and watched her pull up a chair to the opposite side of the bed.

"Perhaps to beg and plead with me not to listen to doctor's advice…or perhaps you were planning on a spot of bribery…maybe even blackmail? Amanda was rather forthcoming on your operating style Mrs Colby, the woman who would sell her own daughter in exchange for a crown…"

"I didn't come here for you Mr Demeter. I came here to see my daughter, unless of course you plan on having me removed?" Alexis answered coolly feeling Andrei's eyes on her, his gaze boring into her as if he could discern by staring what game she was playing.

"That depends on you Mrs Colby." Andrei retorted his blue eyes narrowing. "Your ex husband made some rather unpleasant remarks when he was in here, calling me a liar amongst other things…I do not care for having my word questioned."

"Yet you do claim to care for Amanda…Enough to have married her at any rate." Alexis countered sharply, lifting her emerald gaze from her daughter's still face to meet Andrei's gaze. Curling her hands into fists Alexis dug her nails into the soft flesh of a her palm, refusing to blink or look away first even though Andrei's cold eyes made her fight a shiver.

"I did care deeply for Amanda."

"Did? My daughter, your wife is still breathing Mr Demeter…"

"Did…do…semantics Mrs Colby."

"Perhaps, perhaps not." Alexis countered coolly. "I would prefer to give you the benefit of the doubt. I would like to think that my daughter had finally found someone who really loved her and whom she loved in return and that she was happy until a terrible accident ruined everything. It would be some sort of comfort to think that she hadn't suffered…Yet I have never been a fantasist Mr Demeter, and I learnt at a young age that fairy tales were just that."

Smirking Andrei leant back in his chair. "Amanda always said you had a way with words Mrs Colby, a real talent for verbally going for the jugular."

"Sticks and stones Mr Demeter, I may wound but it is hardly ever fatal, a sabotaged car on the other hand is fatal accident waiting to happen."

"Ahhh of course the police's little conspiracy story. I have heard it all first hand myself whilst they kept me detained in that dingy little cell when I should have been here at my wife's side. You know you really shouldn't believe every story you are told Mrs Colby. If I had any hand in Amanda's accident then I would be behind bars right now…"

"So either you are as innocent as you claim or merely very good at covering your tracks." Alexis snapped back, her control wavering slightly as her desire to ream this bastard out warred with her need to stick to the plan. Time….she needed to buy the police, even the doctor more time.

"Coming from such an expert I am almost flattered…." Andrei retorted. "How many oil tankers was it you arranged to have blown up? Amanda did tell me but I am not one for details 7…. or 8? It was the most open secret in the business community and yet I do not recall you ever being charged with anything…It seems you are quite proficient yourself in covering up things you would prefer remain hidden, or planning the destruction of people's livelihoods if not their lives…now what do you English call that…ah yes hypocrisy."

Biting her tongue at the bastards cheek Alexis didn't know what was worse, that her daughter had clearly confided in this thug she had married or the fact that he might have a small point. Still in her mind there was a significant difference between blowing up property that had been by rights her own to do with as she pleased and murdering someone.

"Cat got your tongue Mrs Colby?" Andrei taunted smugly, lifting his arms and threading his hands together behind his head as he had the nerve to slouch down in his chair and gaze at her with victory in his eyes. A delusion that Alexis refused to allow to continue.

"Nothing you have to say about me or my life interests me in the slightest Mr Demeter. Amanda is my only concern, she needs all of my attention…" Alexis retorted tartly pausing only to drop her voice to an icy tone, her emerald eyes now frozen solid.

"Of course if anything were to happen to change that focus then there would be nothing on this earth that would stop me from finding out exactly what caused my daughter's death. Nothing or nobody Mr Demeter, and if the police were incapable of appropriately punishing those involved…well then other steps would need to be taken."

"I do believe that was the most polite threat I have ever received." Andrei snorted, his smug smirk twisting into something unpleasant. "I think you will find Mrs Colby I react even worse to threats than I do to being called a liar. Remember that because that would make this just as much your doing as mine…"

Then standing from his chair he picked up the stack of paperwork the doctor had left him, flicking through to the end he made a point to meet Alexis's gaze before reaching into his inside pocket for a pen. Uncapping it he paused before signing his name in a flourish before shoving the pen back inside his pocket in a rough jerky movement.

Slamming the signed permission form back down onto the side table Alexis felt her throat close up and her strangled cry die on her lips.

"I am calling your bluff Mrs Colby."

"You…can't…We'll stop you."

"Oh by all means try…try whatever you like." Andrei taunted. "Just do it fast hmmmm…time is really not on your side."

Part 6c)

"Where the hell have you been? What could possibly have taken so long? Andrei has already signed the paperwork…."

Blake was barely in the door before Alexis was bombarding him with questions. "I was borrowing the phone in the doctors office…I was calling anyone I knew who might have some sort of influence. I even woke Adam up and got him to try and contact the best lawyer he could find over here…I just don't know if it will do any good."

"You mean that was your grand plan, phone up and talk to a lawyer about this…Blake we don't have time for any of those moves now, didn't you hear what I said Andrei has signed the paperwork, the doctor might already be on his way here to turn off the machines!"

Blake sighed running his hand across his brow and through his mussed hair as he watched the hope that had blossomed on Alexis's face quickly vanish. "I heard you Alexis but god dammit what miracle were you expecting from me?"

"Oh I don't know how about something a little more pro-active…even underhand, illegal, I don't care how Demeter is removed from the picture, the old Blake…the Blake I married would have understood this. He would have done whatever was necessary to protect his family, clearly living all those years with that vapid blonde has made you soft Blake only now it is my child who will pay the price."

"Our child." Blake corrected Alexis out of habit before continuing. "Besides I cannot believe you would condone…."

"What kidnapping…murder?" Alexis ground out through her teeth, her ire growing as Blake had the nerve to look at her with disbelief and a hint of disgust. "If necessary, an eye for an eye, isn't that what they say."

"You….I…." Blake stuttered taking in Alexis's resolute expression and determination.

Surely she couldn't mean it, yes Alexis had often careful crafted the destruction of people's personal lives of careers, a move that had disgusted Blake often. Yet he had always held to the belief and had even argued against Krystle when Alexis had been accused of murdering Mark Jennings that his first wife was not a murderer. Yes she had a temper….dear god didn't they all…and in the heat of the moment she was capable of feats of violence.

Yet he had always believed she would never go that far.

Krystle had never shared his faith in Alexis's well hidden morals, often citing Alexis's still murky involvement in her miscarriage that Krystle clung to as fact as evidence to the contrary. Something of which Blake had always found himself giving Alexis the benefit of the doubt before…but now….

Did he really know the woman he had spent nine years married too?

"Why is this all about me? Isn't there anyone you could contact?" Blake blustered his grip on his temper loosening as the weight of responsibility ground him down, making him lash unthinkingly at the person closest to him.

"Dammit Alexis you've spent more time in Europe than I have…you're the one who spent years hobnobbing with these people at all those society parties, surely you must know someone who could delay this…I don't care how anymore Alexis, blackmail whoever you have to…" 

"You think I haven't already tried that?" Alexis snapped back. "What do you think I have been doing, sitting here twiddling my thumbs waiting for the almighty Blake Carrington to come to my rescue?"

"From my perspective…" Blake trailed off the warning thundercloud that overtook Alexis's face the only warning he was given before his ex-wife launched into a new tongue-lashing.

"For your information and education Blake blackmail only works when the people you have it on are still alive and kicking and I'm sorry Blake but I've spent the last ten years trying to rebuild my life in Denver after you destroyed to spend much time gadding about Europe. Not to mention running Colby Co tends to take up the time I used to spend listening at keyholes!"

"Alright…I'm sorry…" Blake sighed lifting his dark gaze to meet Alexis's. "I just feel so helpless…being powerless to step in is not a feeling I am used." Blake added. "I shouldn't take it out on you."

"No you shouldn't." Alexis snapped back, her hurt feelings mollified somewhat by Blake's genuine exhaustion and frustration that she herself shared. "Let's just forget it shall we…There must be something we have missed or perhaps the police officer or Amanda's doctor might have better luck…"

"I'm afraid your luck has run out." Andrei's distinctive eastern european accent cut through the already tense atmosphere. "Now are you both going to act like responsible adults or will I be forced to have the hospital security staff remove you?"

"Demeter you have a nerve to come barging in here and accuse us of acting irresponsibly!" Blake barked back. "Amanda is your wife, you made promises to love and support her in sickness and health…"

"I am acting in my wife's best interest. Despite what you might think I once loved Amanda very much" Andrei argued back. "Living the rest of her life like this would have disgusted her and permitting it to go on any longer would be an insult to her memory. I have made my decision and I won't be swayed by impassioned arguments about love and the sanctity of marriage by a man such as yourself Mr Carrington…First you exile your first wife from your small children, then whilst your second is laying in a coma you take her back only to swap bed partners when she recovers and now it would appear we have gone full circle once again!"

"Why you little…" Blake grunted clenching his fist and stepping forward, only the sudden restraining of Alexis's hand on his arm stopped him.

"Blake don't give him the satisfaction, it's what he wants." Alexis pleaded with him, her emerald eyes lifted pleadingly to his face. "He wants an excuse to throw you out of here." She added softly when Blake dropped his disbelieving gaze to meet her own. "Don't give him one please…Amanda needs you here…I need you…"

Hearing the break in Alexis's voice Blake didn't even hesitate before sliding his arms around their waist, their earlier disagreement forgotten in the light of this new turn of events. "Demeter what will it take to stop this madness?" Blake pleaded, forcing the anger from his voice and adopting a beseeching tone that was alien to him. Blake Carrington had never lowered himself to beg for anything in his life but to save his daughter's life he would make a deal with the devil himself.

"What is this humility from the great Blake Carrington, are you begging me for mercy?"

"If you like." Blake answered, tightening his grip on Alexis as they watched Amanda's new consultant assisted by a nurse begin to make preparations. "It is not too late…please whatever the cost won't you just leave our daughter to us, we can take her back to Denver absolve you of any responsibility for her care."

"You don't have anything I want Carrington, even the prospect of watching you grovel at my feet cannot tempt me to change my mind. This is not and has never been about you, I am doing this for my wife, you may not understand it or respect my decision but it is made…If you are ready Doctor?"

"I am."

Turning back to Blake and Alexis Andrei added. "You can either stay or go it is your choice."

"We're staying." Alexis answered for them both, shakily taking the seat beside her daughter's bedside, reaching out and taking her hand and squeezing it gently, just as Blake's hands squeezed her shoulders reassuringly.

They may not be able to stop this from happening…perhaps it had been the inevitable outcome that they both had been wanting to avoid ever since the doctor had first talked to them. Still that didn't mean they couldn't be there for their child as she finally passed away, to lend her death some measure of dignity.

Alexis never thought she could miss the steady unnatural rasp of the ventilator that caused her daughter's chest to rise and fall, yet as the machine was unplugged and the dreadful noise came to a stop Alexis wished for nothing more than to hear it again. Then the slow whine of the heart monitor, the sharp regular beats had already slowed considerably and now they formed one slow wail, a death wail.

"No." The word was ripped from her.

"Nooooo." Alexis could feel her heart breaking in her chest, this was her Amanda, her little girl, her baby, she couldn't be dead it had to be a terrible dream. A nightmare that soon she would wake from. Screaming in her bed her horror quickly turning to relief as she realised it had all been a figment of her tortured imagination and that if she picked up the phone she could reach her daughter and hear her voice reassuring her mother everything was fine.

Yet Alexis didn't wake no matter how hard she pinched the skin on her arm. Instead she stared in horrible realisation at her daughter's still body before turning around and lifting her eyes to meet the gaze of the only other person in the room who could possibly understand how she felt, but Blake's eyes were just as dull and lifeless. The only indication that he was still among the living was the soft rasp of his breathing.

"Time of death recorded 9.41." The consultant intoned in a solemn tone, making a note on his pad. "I will leave you now."

Finally as if the weight of her gaze managed to piece the fog of his grief Blake lifted his dead eyes to meet Alexis's own and if Alexis hadn't already been destroyed by her own grief then the sight of the completely broken man in front of her would have finished the job.

"What happens now?"

For a moment the question hung in the air and since it was the only question on all their minds no one was quite sure who or even if it had actually been said aloud. Yet it had been said and now it couldn't be taken back and a new determination entered Alexis's mind, something to hold to as the grief threatened to pull her under completely.

"I want to take her home with us…I want her to be buried in Denver." Alexis demanded wresting her eyes away from a broken Blake to plead with Andrei who seemed to be viewing the scene with a detached air and yet there was a distinctive emptiness to him as well…perhaps he had at least cared for Amanda a little after all.

Sighing Blake absorbed Alexis's words at some level they made an impact and yet there was no outward sign he had even heard Alexis he was so deep in his own world, not even the tears that silently made tracks down her cheeks could move him. He just couldn't believe any of this was really happening. He had been so sure someone would come bursting through that door at the last minute and stop this madness, but no one had come, proving this nightmare was reality and not a dramatically scripted movie plot.

"Surely it is the least you can allow us…her brothers and sisters deserve to have the chance to say goodbye properly." Alexis pressed again, her relief almost palpable when Andrei gave a curt nod, his flat eyes not once leaving the still form of his late wife.

For a long moment nobody spoke or moved and then as if suddenly startled Andrei turned on his heel and made for the door, neither Blake nor Alexis called out to stop him.

Turning into Blake Alexis clutched at the fabric of his shirt, burying her face against him as the tears burned her eyes as they fell. Feeling him grasp at her as a lifeline Alexis clung to Blake just as desperately.

"Oh god Blake what on earth are we going to do now?"

Yet Blake Carrington couldn't bring himself to answer…right now he had no idea how things could go forward from here, life or fate seemed determined to keep on punishing them for something. If only he could figure out what crime they had committed that such a high price was demanded, then perhaps this nightmare would finally stop….


	12. Episode 12: Prodigal Son

Episode 12: Prodigal Son

Part 1a)

Standing at the large panoramic window Alexis Colby fingered the lit cigarette that hung from her right hand as her left fiddled nervously with the black patent belt that pulled her tailored black dress suit in at her neat waist. Her gaze was fixed on the horses out in the paddock yet she wasn't really paying attention to the hands training of her racehorses.

Today was the day of the funeral…her baby girl's funeral.

Part of her still couldn't quite believe it was happening. It was like being trapped in a nightmare, unable to wake up.

She hadn't believed it at the hospital even with Amanda laying cold in front of her or when they had left Monaco…or even when she had watched from the tarmac as that slim oak coffin was loaded on to the plane…even when they had landed in Denver and she had been thrown into planning the funeral.

That had all gone by in a terrible numb blur. If it hadn't been for her other children Alexis wasn't sure what she would have done…

Fallon had been wonderful, she had taken so much weight off of Alexis's shoulders, she had taken it upon herself to phone around all Amanda's friends and organise flights and accommodation for all the family flying in from England. She had even taken it upon herself to sort out the preparations for the wake at the house with Mrs Gunnerson to save her mother from having to spend too much time in a house that she still felt uncomfortable in.

Adam had been her rock at Colby Co, taking over all those meetings that couldn't be postponed. Alexis had tried to go into the office one morning for a few hours, hoping the distraction would take her mind off of things. Yet all that had resulted was wasted hours as Alexis had spent the time she should have been reading production reports staring off into space unable to concentrate.

Jeff had taken care of Denver Carrington.

By contrast the men in her life seemed determined to make her life even more difficult. Thoughts of Dex sent her temper spiking and as for Blake…

Thoughts of Blake caused Alexis take a deep pull on her cigarette as tears built up behind her eyes. She really shouldn't have expected anything else. How often had they been in this situation before? How many times when she needed him, really needed him, had Blake shut down…shut her out.

Why should this time have been any different?

It had started on the plane…

"_Do you want a drink?" The question had been a straightforward one and yet either Blake hadn't heard her or he was ignoring her by choice. "Blake?_

"_No." His reply was curt almost rudely abrupt as Blake didn't even turn his head to look at her, continuing to stare blankly out of the window._

_Pouring herself a large brandy Alexis took the seat on the opposite Blake across the table. Running her fingertip along the rim Alexis girded her courage to finally pose the question that had been on her lips all morning. _

"_You weren't there when I woke up, you weren't in your room either, where did you go so early?"_

_Sighing Blake seemed reluctant to engage in any sort of conversation. "Out. I went for a walk, I couldn't sleep I needed some air."_

"_You could have woken me I would have come with you." Alexis answered softy reaching across the table for Blake's hand her heart sinking even further as Blake shifted uncomfortably, allowing her comfort for a moment before pulling away._

"_I know but we had such a late night and you needed your rest and I didn't want to wake you…besides I wanted to be myself for a while."_

_Leaning back in her own seat Alexis stared down into the depths of her brandy glass for a while, trying to stifle the sudden urge to cry. Tears were constantly near the surface at the moment; it hardly took much to set her off. Still knowing and feeling Blake pull away from her both physically and emotionally was a difficult thing to take stoically._

_Perhaps a change of subject might draw him out of this descent into emotional isolation and depression. _

"_I have been thinking about the funeral…I was thinking of keeping it small and simple. A church ceremony and then a private burial just immediate family and maybe a few friends, followed by a short gathering at the house…I was wondering if perhaps I should invite Prince Michael, but if we do that what if Andrei turns up… "_

"_Alexis please can we not discuss this right now." Blake tried to make his chastisement soft but his lack of sleep made his tone gruffer than he probably intended. "I just can't…Please just leave it for now." _

_Biting her lip this time Alexis couldn't stop the tears from spilling down her cheeks even as she reached up to hastily brush them away. "Leave it alone or you?"_

_Scowling slightly Blake couldn't hide his irritation this time. "Both." _

_Yet he wasn't unmoved by her tears, part of him wanted to be able to reach out to her, the same part of him that had held her close to him the night before whilst she slept for as long as he had been able. Yet there was another part of Blake that pulled him away, that instinct to bury his pain and his emotions so deeply that they couldn't distract him so he could force himself to live through the pain._

"_Fine! Have it your own damn way." Alexis hissed taking her brandy and her concern back to the couch. Muttering angrily to herself. "Just don't expect me to still be here when you finally realise how much you need me."_

Part 1b):

"Does this tie look right to you?"

Glancing back over her shoulder Fallon Colby paused in touching up her make up, making sure that it still covered the lingering remains of her bruising. Jackson stood lingering in her doorway, for once out of his jeans and casual shirts and smartly turned out in a dark grey suit and fiddling with a dark blue tie.

"It looks good."

"You sure?" Jackson asked hesitantly. "I thought perhaps I should have gone out and bought a black one…"

"Jackson the tie is fine." Fallon insisted. "Although it might look a little better if you tied it properly." She added crossing the room, reaching up to tweak at the knot until it was even and straight. "There now it's perfect."

"Thanks…I guess I'm just a little nervous, I haven't been to a proper funeral before...well not since I was a kid…I hope I don't make a mistake and embarrass myself."

Smiling slightly at Jackson's almost boyish uncertainty Fallon smoothed down the lapels of his dark grey suit. "You won't I promise. I am just glad you are going to be there I don't think I would be able to get through the day without you."

"Oh I don't know you'll have all your family there…I just hope I won't be in the way, I never met your sister…"

"Jackson you won't be!" Fallon insisted. "Believe me I barely knew Amanda either, it wasn't like we grew up together and I was living in LA most of the time she was in Denver. Sure she's my sister but I guess I'm more upset about the fact that I'll now never get to build that sort or relationship with her…well that and I am upset for my parents."

"I haven't really seen Alexis since she got back from Europe…" Jackson paused glancing back over his shoulder and down the corridor where Alexis's bedroom door remained firmly shut just as it had for most of the two days she had been home. "How is she taking it?"

Snorting in distinct unamusement Fallon moved back to her vanity, picking up her broad brimmed navy hat and checking her reflection in the mirror she carefully pinned it on.

"How do you think she's taking it? She's just lost her youngest child in terrible circumstances…god I cannot even begin to imagine what that must feel like. I mean there were times when we thought we might loose both LB and then Lauren but somehow they pulled through. The closest thing must have been how I felt when LB was kidnapped…Being so powerless…I can only imagine how much worse it must be to sit there and being forced to watch as your child dies in front of your eyes."

"Hey…" Jackson whispered softly, he could hear the break in Fallon's voice already. "Alexis is probably the toughest lady I know, if anyone can get through this she can."

"That's what she wants you to think." Fallon muttered. "Everyone always thinks of my mother as being made of stone but its just a façade, she's so fragile underneath…if you only knew how close to the edge…" Fallon broke off her fingers gripping the edge of her vanity. "I can't stand by and watch my mother like that again."

"Fallon we won't let anything happen to Alexis." Jackson tried to enthuse confidence in his voice. "Whatever it takes alright?"

Sighing Fallon nodded and leant back against Jackson's broad frame.

Rubbing her arm Jackson swallowed nervously before continuing. "Do you think perhaps…I mean do you think I should try and apologise to her? I still feel terrible about what happened, I mean if I'd known the two of you were going to turn up when you did and walked into that scene."

"Oh no…at least not right away, not today at any rate. In fact it's probably best if you wait until she brings it up. Mother has enough on her plate without anyone bringing up that man again." Fallon retorted bitterly, instinctively checking her makeup one last time at even the barest illusion to Dex Dexter.

As unpleasant as that scene had been, as unfortunate as the timing had been, at the time Fallon had wanted to the ground to open and swallow her up. Part of her still felt more than a small twinge of guilt whenever she thought of it. Still it was too late to do anything about it now, and besides it had gotten rid of Dex Dexter…perhaps this time for good?

So why did that thought not make Fallon feel as happy as she expected it to?

Part 2):

"_What are you doing here Dexter?"_

Sipping his whiskey Dex leant his head back against the headrest of his recliner his dark eyes unfocused as they stared out of the window. In the other room he could hear Jack's giggles and Marin's voice as she talked to her nephew, but Dex had no desire to go in there and play happy family's not when his own had been practically torn apart. The memories of those fateful moments on continuous replay in his mind.

"_What are you doing here Dexter? I would have thought you would been ashamed to show your face around here after what you did?"_

"_I am here to see Alexis not answer to you Hobbs, I heard she was flying in this morning." Dex turned to stare at the Colby live in stud and so called racehorse trainer. He had never really taken to Jackson, the man seemed to know too much, to be in other people's business all the time, and for a straight man Dex found that more than a little unnerving. _

"_She's not here yet Dexter, Fallon is picking her up from the airport but even if she was I doubt very much she would want to see you."_

"_Why?" Dex snapped. "Oh let me guess because Fallon has been filling her head with lies about me? I suppose that's why she offered to pick Alexis up, so she'd have all the time in the world to warp her mother's mind."_

"_What lies Dexter I was there!" Jackson retorted his blue eyes blazing with anger. "I saw what you did…Now Fallon may not want to talk about it, in fact she made me swear to keep it to myself but that doesn't mean I am just going to let this go. If you think I am just going to stand back and watch you move back in here as though nothing happened…."_

"_Nothing did happen!" Dex barked back. "And no man gives me orders let alone primped up playboy like yourself."_

"_Because a macho hot head like yourself is so much better." Jackson retorted. "You know I foolishly thought you were a good guy Dexter. When you first came back onto the scene I actually encouraged Alexis to give you another chance. I thought you were the better option, I thought you really loved her and could keep her from getting hurt by Carrington again. Well if I knew then what I know now I would have pushed her back into Blake's arms."_

_Gritting his teeth and clenching his fists Dex resisted the urge to lash out, but realising that would merely confirm Jackson's opinion of him Dex kept a short leash on his temper. "You don't know the whole story Jackson, lets just say there were extenuating circumstances."_

"_There is never a good enough excuse for hitting a woman and only a coward would claim there was."_

"_Hey watch your mouth or I'll…"_

"_Or you'll what? Shut it for me?" Jackson countered quickly. "Resorting to violence how like you…But I am not a victim Dexter, you hit me I'll hit you back."_

"_You'd try." Dex snorted._

"_I'd succeed, unlike you I fight men and not defenceless women."_

_Shaking his head at the younger man's bluster Dex sneered his reply. "Whatever Jackson I told you I didn't come here to waste my time with you, I want to see Alexis and I am not leaving until I do."_

"_Well then it seems your wish is granted." A clipped English accent pronounced regally from the doorway. "Now will someone please tell me what on earth is going on?"_

"_Alexis." Dex sighed with relief crossing the room to pull a surprisingly rigid Alexis into his arms. "Darling I have been so worried…"_

"_Really?" Alexis replied her tone deceptively light even as she broke his embrace and stepped out of it slapping her gloves into her palm. "How very surprising…I mean considering this is the first time we have spoken in weeks…not even a single message left at my hotel enquiring how I was…"_

"_That wasn't my fault!" Dex argued heatedly his eyes narrowing as he caught sight of Fallon slinking along the hallway. "Why don't you ask your daughter why I didn't call?"_

"_Fallon…"_

"_Don't you dare bring Fallon into this Dexter!" Jackson butted in his blue eyes blazing. "Don't you dare try to pin the blame on her after all you've done."_

"_Why the hell not this is all her fault!" Dex yelled back his dark eyes glaring into Jackson's blazing blues. "She is a little liar, and a thief."_

"_How dare…" Jackson began only to be cut off by Alexis._

"_I hope you can substantiate those accusations Dex. I don't appreciate people attacking my children, I once told you that remember?"_

"_Oh I remember plenty." Dex sneered. "Fallon's been trying to drive us apart since I moved in, she thinks if she can break us up then you'll go back to Blake. She stole an engagement ring I bought for you…Then she refused to give me your number in Monaco…"_

"_You lying bastard." Jackson spat back. "So I suppose these fantastic stories were reason enough for you to hit her?"_

"_What?" Alexis's voice was so sharp and icy it was practically artic. "Fallon said she fell from her horse."_

"_Fallon didn't want to tell you…she thought you had enough to cope with right now. She was just covering it up, so much for your theory about her trying to destroy your relationship Dexter."_

"_Would you just shut up and stay out of this Jackson."_

"_Or what you'll hit me too?"_

"_Now you are really pushing it!" Dex all but growled pointing threatening at Jackson who merely returned his glare with a confident gaze of his own._

"_Would you two stop bickering?" Alexis exclaimed raising a hand to her forehead, after the last few days she had neither the desire nor the patience to deal with this now. Lifting her gaze to meet Jackson's righteous anger Alexis seemed to deflate. "Is it true?"_

"_Why are you asking him?" Dex demanded frowning as his lover turned to another man for the truth, a virtual stranger over him. "I am telling you it was just an accident. I am the man you are supposed to be in love with…I am the man who picked the pieces of you off the floor after Blake was through with you…You're supposed to trust me Alexis!"_

"_Dexter hit Fallon I saw him." Jackson replied ignoring Dex's exclamation. "If anyone is a liar around here its him!"_

_For a long moment no one spoke. Dex watched as Alexis's pale face drained of what little colour was left in it. "Alexis I swear it wasn't like that…it was an accident…"_

"_Leave." It was said so quietly and softly that for a moment Dex didn't catch it._

"_What?"_

"_I said leave Dex." Alexis repeated this time louder and with steel in her voice. _

"_Alexis don't do this…" Dex's voice broke, his hand outreached for Alexis, brushing her sleeve, his heart sinking as Alexis stepped back as if burnt._

"_Dex I can't deal with this right now. I don't want to see you anymore… Please just leave."_

_Horrified and unable to swallow down his pain Dex staggered out the door…his heart breaking a little bit more with every step._

"So are you just planning on sitting there all day and drinking yourself into some sort of a stupor?"

Grunting Dex did his best to ignore his sister's question staring down into the amber liquid at the bottom of his glass. "Maybe." What was the point?

"Can't you shave or at least take a shower, Dex you're really starting to smell?"

Shrugging his shoulders noncommittally Dex lifted his glass and took another sip not even lifting his gaze when his sister sighed and sank down into the opposite seat.

"Dex please, I am begging you, for your sake, my sake…for your son…you have to snap out of this. She is just one woman, there are others out there…"

"Not for me." Dex grunted scowling down into his now empty glass before reaching out for the whisky bottle, his annoyance growing when Marin's sober reflexes were faster and snatched it up before his fingers could close around the neck.

"Liar."

"What…." Dex spluttered his confusion only growing as his sister got to her feet and stomped into the bathroom upending the remains of his alcohol in the sink. "Hey you want to throw quality whiskey away Marin buy it yourself!"

"I did buy it, this is my hotel suite remember?" Marin spat resisting the urge to reach out and shake him. "God dammit Dex when are you going to stop sitting here on your backside feeling sorry for yourself. If you really cannot live without that damn woman then you are going the wrong way about it. Get off your arse, get sober and clean and then go get her back."

"It's not that simple." Dex barked back. "Alexis threw me out…she told me she never wanted to see me again."

"Only because she doesn't know the full story. You haven't even told me everything but I know you well enough to know you would never beat a woman….even a spoilt little bitch like Fallon Colby."

"Yeah well try telling Alexis that. When it comes to her children she will always take their side, always put them first." Dex muttered bitterly.

"Then make her listen!" Marin insisted. "Get off of your backside, get yourself sorted out and come with me to this damn funeral. Prove to her how much you really love her. Be there for even when she has told you to get lost, and if after all that Alexis still can't see you for the honest decent man that you are then frankly she doesn't deserve you!"

Part 2b):

Adam Carrington was tired, dog-tired. Not that he let it show, he had the Carrington name to uphold after all.

He had been acting up as CEO since his mother had first travelled to Australia to help bail Jeff out the mess Denver Carrington had found itself in. It was a challenge that Adam relished, being able to prove to the family and the Colby Co staff that he was the Carrington son that was the safe pair of hands despite his turbulent history. Yet that didn't mean it wasn't exhausting covering both his post and his mother's and Adam resolved on the day he eventually took over Colby Co he would make sure he had two senior vice presidents.

After all what was the point of being the boss if you had to work yourself into an early grave?

Wincing at that thought considering the circumstances Adam checked his reflection in the vanity mirror. It may be his baby sister's funeral but that didn't mean she shouldn't look his best, in fact the opposite was true, because it was Amanda's funeral he should make an extra effort. Of all of his siblings Adam had found Amanda easiest to relate to. Perhaps it was because like him she had been thrust into the Carrington Clan as an adult. Perhaps it was because temperament wise they were quite similar, they both craved love like it was a drug, always wanting more than what they had.

Straightening his practically perfect tie and ascot knot, frowning when he caught sight of more than the beginnings of grey at his temples. It was typical that having taken after Alexis in most of his features, the high cheekbones and fine complexion, the one thing he seemingly had inherited from Blake was the early greying hair.

He was only thirty-four far too early to be going grey. It made him feel far older than his years and reminded him daily of how much still had to accomplish with his life. Adam Alexander Carrington still had much he wanted to achieve; becoming CEO of one of the family companies was merely one step. Yet although his other plans were far more humble, earning the respect and love of his family and one day hopefully sooner rather than later becoming a father himself…

Adam wasn't certain whether Dana's decision to take a break and move into another bedroom actually improved the chances of that happening or not.

"Adam are you ready?…Krystle wants everyone to gather in the library before we leave. She think it would be good for Dad if we are all there for him since Fallon is going to the church with Mother."

Sighing Adam moved to open the door forcing his expression into a mask of neutrality, when even the sound of his younger brother's voice set his teeth on edge. Steven, the Carrington golden boy. It made Adam's blood boil that no matter how many times Steven put himself before this family still he was welcomed back with open arms, the perpetual prodigal son.

"Coming Steven don't go getting your knickers in a twist." Adam quipped back, inwardly smirking as Steven scowled as Adam pushed past him and strode off towards the staircase.

"You know Adam I would have thought that today of all days you might drop the attitude and try and be a little nice to everyone."

"Oh how nice a lecture on family values from my baby brother." Adam sneered pausing on the top of the staircase. "This coming from the man who runs off and leaves his child to others to raise. Forgive me if don't rely on your opinion too heavily Steven."

"Dammit would it kill you to drop the hostility for one day?"

"I don't know would it kill you to face up to and deal with your responsibilities like a man and not a spoilt little boy?" Adam countered, snorting as Steven's tanned face flushed pink. "Instead of running away whenever things get difficult."

"Because you are a fine one to talk about running away." Steven scoffed blue eyes flashing as his big brother hit a little too close to the mark. Danny had been unusually cold and distant when Steven had arrived just in time to join him for breakfast.

"You're just bitter…I don't know why I bother to try…"

"Because Krystle ordered you to." Adam countered. "And you just love playing the perfect golden boy that you couldn't possibly refuse any little request Krystle makes of you, lest that golden crown of yours slips a fraction in her eyes. Well in my view its already down around your knees. Tell me Steven have you even bothered to have a conversation with your son yet?"

"I only flew in early this morning Adam and Krystle was right to send the children to school…a funeral is no place for them. I will have plenty of time to spend with Danny when he gets back from school."

"Oh an hour or two before you jet back to New York, how incredibly generous of you." Adam sneered taking the steps two at a time, doing his best to keep his lid on his temper.

"Actually I had planned to stay for the weekend, maybe take Danny away overnight to the cabin and do a spot of fishing. Not that my relationship with my son is any of your concern."

"Oh I am sure he will be thrilled." Adam drawled sarcastically pausing as he reached the mezzanine level. "Fishing with Daddy sounds like such fun."

"Why don't you keep your opinion to yourself?" Steven retorted hotly stepping up until he was in his older brother's face, not even thinking before adding. "When I want advice on parenting I will ask someone who is actually a parent for it."

Smarting from that jibe Adam bite back just as nastily. "Funny I thought there was more to being a parent than simply impregnating the nearest trailer trash tramp and running away. Still that is all you do isn't it Steven always dumping your child because you resent him cramping your fag lifestyle…"

"You bast…."

"Boys that is enough! God Dammit your sister is being laid to rest today, can't you at least pretend to get along today of all days?"

The sound of Blake's command cut through the heated atmosphere like a bucket of cold water over a pair of scolded cats. Frowning Blake stalked down the stairs turning his dark gaze onto both of his sons in turn.

"Dad…."

"Father…"

Both of his sons began to speak at the same time but Blake huffed and brushed their excuses aside before they could even begin, striding off down the remaining stairs without another word. He didn't have time or the desire to deal with them right now. Besides Blake Carrington had other things pressing on his mind.

Part 3a):

The church was full. A fact that had momentarily surprised Alexis, before she guilty pushed such thoughts away…Amanda may not have grown up in Denver but clearly people had been fond of her, either that or they were here out of some voyeuristic tendency, not that she had any intention of indulging them.

Thank god Fallon and Jackson had stuck close by her side, the pair forming an unofficial circle of protection that had kept the circling vultures away and allowed Alexis some dignity as she moved to one of the front pews to take her seat. Across the aisle Krystle sat in a pew by herself, and it was a symptom of how raw Alexis was from her grief that is took a good minute or so before she realised the rest of the family was missing.

Suddenly the music started, the tremulous opening strain of Mozart's Alleluia Exsultate Jubilate, filled the large church as the congregation got to their feet. Alexis frowning in confusion as she caught Fallon's muttered…

"Oh Daddy…you shouldn't be straining yourself…"

Glancing back over her shoulder following Fallon's gaze, Alexis's gaze scanned the crowd, familiar faces standing out amongst mere acquaintances, although she did do a double take when her gaze passed over Dex seated next to his sister. Dex seemed to sense the weight of her gaze on him and his dark eyes flicked up to meet hers, something deep and unreadable in their depths.

Pulling her gaze away from Dex's dark gaze Alexis finally settled on the doorway to the church, her breath catching in her throat as she caught sight of the polished oak coffin and the familiar looking pallbearers.

Blake, Steven, Adam and Jeff along with two undertakers were carrying the coffin inside.

Swallowing a sob, Alexis held a handkerchief to her mouth. It was too much…the coffin…it was all too real and not a nightmare she had been hoping to eventually wake up from. It was only the feeling of Fallon's hand taking hers and holding it tightly that kept her grounded as Alexis watched the slow procession of the coffin towards the front of the church.

For Blake Carrington he was trying to concentrate on making his steps even and measured, and sustaining his balance and grip on the heavy weight he was carrying…all whilst not dwelling on exactly what he was carrying.

Part of him now wished he had declined Jeff's suggestion back at the house. Back then it had seemed a fitting symbolic act, all of Amanda's male relatives bearing her safely to her final resting place. Blake couldn't help the feeling guilt that stirred up, so different than the numbness that had dominated since the night of Amanda's passing. Carrying her coffin was the least he should do as her father, perhaps that might assuage the guilty sick feeling his stomach that Blake could only attribute to the fact that he had not contributed in any other way to his daughter's funeral.

Yet there was a big difference to agreeing to something in the abstract and actually physically carrying your daughter's coffin on your shoulder, when with every step your empty stomach gave a warning lurch and threatened to spill its meagre contents over your polished dress shoes. Forcing feelings of panic down Blake breathed through his nose, taking it one step and a time…

He could do this…he could…it was the least he could do considering….

Blake knew he had become a virtual recluse since returning to Denver, preferring to remain in his own room rather than interact with the family. As a result the burden of making all the funeral arrangements had rested on Fallon and Alexis….

Alexis…

On setting the coffin down carefully on the stand in front of the alter Blake found his gaze automatically drifting towards his ex-wife. She was dressed as impeccably as always, but even the wide brimmed hat and veil couldn't hide the tears that were already making tracks down her cheeks. God he hated seeing her cry.

The impulse to go to her and do something useful flared up for a moment. However his indecision made that choice for him as Adam automatically sank into the open space by his mother's side. It was probably be for the best at any rate…Blake had only proved to Alexis and himself over the years own truly inadequate he was at comforting anyone else. You needed to be able to open up and empathise and Blake Carrington had never been good at sharing his emotions, he struggled to even recognise and acknowledge them himself.

Standing lost, and feeling awkward Blake paused for a few seconds too long. Then fighting an embarrassed flush as the vicar coughed awkwardly signalling his desire to start. Out of the corner of his eye Blake watched as Krystle moved over to make space in her pew, which was already pretty full with Jeff and Steven. By rote Blake shuffled to take the space, allowing himself to drift back into the numb state he had survived in over the last few days. It was just safer that way.

Part 3b)

The ceremony passed in something of a blur, and it wasn't until the fresh air hit him that Blake realised they were outside. Fortunately the family must have realised he was in no fit state to carry the coffin back out after the service and so it seemed Jackson had take his place in helping his son's.

There was a gentle breeze in the air, enough to rustle the autumn leaves that someone had painstakingly raked up from the paths and piled up. The occasional stronger gust would lift one of two leaves from the piles and send them dancing across the churchyard. It was those leaves that caught and held his attention, blocking out the priest's low even voice as he went through the service.

Yet when the wind suddenly dropped and the leaves fell as if having their strings cut, one of them falling like a stone coming to lightly rest on the polished oak surface of Amanda's coffin…Blake felt his throat close up.

He couldn't breathe; there was just too much pressing down on him. The grief that he had been pushing down, feelings that he had been suppressing for years were suddenly rushing at him like a tsunami. Impossible to fight or avoid.

Not here….not now…not in front of all these people…Blake prayed, hoping that someone was listening. Was this his punishment? Punishment for years of being able to exercise iron control over his thoughts and feelings, of pushing other people away because he had been unable to deal with their emotions whilst maintaining control of his own?

Was he destined to spend the rest of his life unable to control himself? A pathetic emotional cripple, a shadow of the former Blake Carrington unable to cope with the real world?

Yet as the panic began to truly grip him, and Blake tried to catch his breath, taking tiny little gasps for air, no one seemed to have heard his plea. Clenching his fists Blake tried to bring his breathing back under control…forcing himself to focus on something…anything…

Then as if heaven sent out of the corner of his eye he watched Alexis step forward, pushing aside Fallon's supporting hand to lay a single rose on their daughter's coffin. Then as she stood up something seemed to break in her and Blake watched frozen as she seemed to drop.

That got him moving…panic for her momentarily overwhelming his own emotional breakdown.

Sinking to the floor Blake's arms wrapped around Alexis, pulling her shaking crying frame against him. "It's alright…Darling it's alright I've got you."

"Blake?" Lifting her gaze, Alexis tried to wipe the tears that blinded her away. Her fingers closing on the lapels of Blake's suit jacket as she leant on Blake as he helped her to her feet. He was so warm and solid and she felt so cold…so very cold and tired of feeling alone and adrift.

"I've got you." Blake repeated his voice breaking as he stared down into her bloodshot green eyes, the pink tinge making the green seem almost florescent. Reaching up he lifted her veil and brushed the tears spilling down her cheek away with his thumb, Blake felt the build up of pressure behind his own eyes.

Yet he couldn't let go and let them fall…He was Blake Carrington…he couldn't breakdown, not when Alexis needed him to be the strong one. If only his damn defective body would listen to him…

"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry. I shut you out, I hurt you even more, I was protecting myself and that was selfish." Blake managed to choke…feeling as though the eyes of Denver were witnessing his confession, watching him, judging him, finding him lacking and just like that the crushing pressure on his chest returned.

Grasping for breath Blake could only watch helpless as Alexis's eyes widening in horror and panic. Her fingers tightening on his jacket as Blake seemed to stagger slightly.

"Blake?"

Wheezing, Blake's grip on Alexis tightened until it was probably bruising, but neither of them cared.

"I love you." Blake managed somehow, this time certain that the doctors back in LA were wrong, this didn't feel like a mere panic attack…the pain… his chest…he had to be having a heart attack.

"Please god somebody do something he can't breathe." Alexis cried out as Blake struggled to breath and sank down to the ground pulling her with him as the people around them gasped and began to panic.

Cradling Blake's face between her hands Alexis shrugged off Fallon's hands as she tried to pull her mother away. "No I won't leave him."

"Mother please…let Jackson help him."

"No I can't…" Alexis choked out her tears falling to land on Blake's face…yet this time when Fallon and Adam reached for her she didn't have the strength to push them away. "Please god don't take him from me too…Blake don't you dare leave me."

Part 3c):

"Mother it will be alright…Daddy's not dying."

"You don't know that Fallon." Alexis snapped back, leaning forward and urging her driver to put his foot down as they followed the ambulance. Right now she didn't even worry about getting stopped, or the fact that limousines didn't corner quite as well as a ambulance or that her driver hadn't undertaken any high speed advanced driving course. All Alexis could think was that right now Blake could be dying and she wasn't by his side.

"Mother Fallon is telling the truth, Father will be fine I expect."

"How can you say that…how can you be so calm?" Alexis demanded. "Dammit Adam Blake may be dying, he's your father shouldn't you be a little more concerned? How can you be so calm?"

"Because it's not a heart attack…it's a panic attack. Daddy had one in LA and swore everyone to secrecy." Fallon cut in watching as her mother's face changed colour, from pale to red and back again.

"What?" Alexis struggled to understand what Fallon was trying to tell her. She had seen Blake collapse, unable to breath clutching his chest. She had been here once before, watching before her eyes as the man she was due to marry was struck down by a heart attack. "No I saw…He couldn't breath."

"I know he couldn't breathe last time…" Fallon interjected only stopping when she saw the storm clouds gathering across her mother's face. "But it wasn't a heart attack. Still the doctor told him to take it easy…"

"And you kept this from ME?" Alexis demanded her emerald eyes flashing angrily. "Alright you two start talking, and this time don't leave any detail out!"

Swallowing nervously Fallon glanced over to her brother, yet from the way Adam shifted uncomfortably she could see there was no help coming there. "Umm it's kind of complicated…"

Leaning back against the plush leather of her seat Alexis locked her death glare on her squirming daughter. "Fortunately for you Fallon it seems we have plenty of time... So start talking!"

Part 4a)

"Why are we here again? Remind me." Marin's drawling voice muttered in her brother's ear as she leaned against the back of her uncomfortable plastic chair. Rummaging around in her small black clutch bag until she liberated a nail file and began to work on her left pinky finger that she had annoyingly snagged on the rush to the hospital.

"Because." Dex answered shortly, his dark eyes locked on the family gathered across the other side of the waiting room.

"She doesn't need you Dex."

"You don't know that."

Snorting Marin shook her head; her brother was a brilliant and yet stupid man. "She hasn't so much as glanced in your direction once."

Biting back his immediate retort Dex sighed. Marin had a point. Whenever Blake's life had been in danger in the past Alexis hadn't been able to think of anything else, it was like she had a pair of blinkers on, almost an obsessive single-mindedness. Plus Marin was right Alexis probably hadn't even noticed he was here.

If only that was true for the rest of the family.

Even sitting here out of the way Dex had caught more than his fair share of dirty looks. Most of which had been from Jackson, who looked torn between staying and supporting Alexis and Fallon and storming over and demanding what the hell Dex thought he was doing here. Fallon by contrast had only glanced their way once and for a moment Dex caught a glimpse of something that might be interpreted as guilt or regret…however that was quickly smothered by anger and frustration. Clearly little Miss Fallon didn't approve of his presence much like her lover didn't; yet much like Jackson she was unwilling to make a public scene, even if it was for a different reason.

"Hello Dex, may I sit with you?"

Surprised by the question Dex glanced up at an awkward looking Krystle who forced a polite smile as she glanced across him to Marin who simply raised an eyebrow at the new arrival.

"Sure Krystle, nobody should be on their own right now." Dex answered softly, and Krystle accepted his offer gracefully sinking into the seat to his left.

"I don't think I've been introduced to…"

"Oh right." Dex answered. "Krystle this is my sister Marin…Marin this lady is Krystle…"

"Carrington, yes I know." Marin answered for him, her dark eyes raking over Krystle. "The unlucky second Mrs Carrington."

Blanching as if slapped Krystle forced herself to remain polite. "That is a rather unusual remark Marin. I wouldn't consider myself to be unlucky. I have a beautiful little girl, a wonderful family…"

"Except they aren't really your family they are hers." Marin retorted bitterly her dark eyes narrowing in distaste as she watched everyone fawn over Alexis. "Everything is always hers…"

"Marin please." Dex's voice was low but firm. "Now is not the time."

"Well when will it be the time Dex?" Marin spat back. "Why are we even here? Oh no let me guess…Because Alexis is upset and so you came running like some sort of lapdog."

"You were the one who told me to man up and tell her how I felt…"

"Tell her yes, make me hang around in a hospital whilst you sulk like a kicked puppy making pathetic goo goo eyes at Alexis whilst she doesn't even know you're alive, no! Besides what's the point anymore? We all saw them at the funeral, and unless Blake Carrington doesn't pull through this, I think it's safe to say your chances at reconciling with Alexis are slim to none."

Sighing Dex could only shake his head, clearly his sister's earlier kindness had been a fleeting impulse and the bitchy selfish younger sibling he remembered had remerged. Still it would be a hell of a lot easier if deep down Dex didn't suspect Marin was right on the money. If Blake Carrington pulled through this there would be no prising Alexis from his side…not even baby Jack would work this time.

Part 4b):

Humiliated…that about summed it up perfectly

Blake knew he had humiliated himself in front of his peers, his family but worst of all in front of the woman he loved.

How could Alexis even bare to look at him now? A mere shadow of a man, a snviling cry baby, no woman would want a loser in their bed, certainly not a woman as strong and passionate as Alexis Colby. Oh she would undoubtedly be kind, would find some other way or excuse to let him down gently but the end result would be the same. Blake had already lost her respect and along with it any chance of her ever loving him back.

"_Oh stop being a snivelling cry baby, take it like a man…Carrington men are strong not weak like little boys…"_

Scrunching up his eyes Blake flinched as those words that had been so deeply engrained in his mind lashed out at him once more. His father's mocking words still as clear today as they had been all those years ago, the tone of disgust and disappointment still cut him to the quick…in a memory that Blake had tried so desperately to avoid thinking about in years.

"_You're a weak nancy mummies boy…."_

No…Blake silently intoned trying to push those memories and accompanying feelings of shame and worthlessness back down. He didn't want to think about that night now…not ever again…he couldn't and yet try as he might Blake couldn't stop his mind from taunting him with his past failure.

"_You are a disgrace to the family name boy…look at you crying over a worthless piece of rubbish. Perhaps you aren't really a Carrington after all, perhaps you're one of those changelings you hear of foisted off onto unsuspecting folks…just some pathetic poetry writing little fairy nonce."_

"_No__Daddy__I__'__m__not__…__I__'__m__a__Carrington__really__I__am.__"_ I am I am Blake repeated in the present pleading with the phantom of his father who in his mind towered over him now just like he had when he was a small boy. Just like then he was unable to block out his father's drunken rage or his own child self's pathetic pleading as a drunken Thomas Carrington held aloft the entry to the church's poetry competition that a nine year old Blake had painstakingly spent all week perfecting.

Then a gentle voice intervened and even caught up in his grief an older Blake felt a twist of joy and pain at once again hearing his mother's voice…or what his addled brain concocted as his mother's voice, soft sweet and frightened…frightened for him…frightened for herself and the child she was carrying. After loosing so many others it was a blessing no Carrington had been expecting.

"_Thomas please calm down, it's nothing really, Blake was just trying to please me…"_

"_You stay out of this Ellen, I've let you baby him enough, too long it seems well you'll have a new baby to concern yourself with soon…Leave the rest of Blake's raising to me!"_

"But Thomas…"

"_God's teeth woman I will be obeyed in my own house. Now if you cannot hold your tongue then leave the room." Thomas Carrington's bellows seemed to shake the room, and Blake remembered cowering in fear as his mother fled the room with a regretful glance back at her nine year old son._

"_Now this is what I think of your artsy fartsy nonsense." Thomas hissed, ripping the carefully handwritten clean in half before his son's face and then tossing the remnants into the grate where the hearth fire ate them greedily._

"_Listen here boy no son of mine will let those faggot ideas into his head…Its time you grew up Blake, and if it takes a good walloping to set you head on straight…"  
_

"_Daddy no…" _

_Yet no matter how hard the boy Blake pleaded or how many tears scrolled down his red cheeks his father was relentless, taking off his slipper and tanning Blake's backside until it was raw._

"_Now stop that snivelling this instant or I really will give you something to cry about!" Thomas commanded waving the slipper under Blake's nose. "Crying is for women and babies, Carrington men don't cry!"_

"_No Daddy." Blake answered contritely wiping his nose on his sleeve._

"_And enough of this Daddy nonsense you are nine years old time to learn some respect. From now on it is Father or Sir, understand?"_

_Biting down on his lip to stop the tears in his eyes from falling Blake forced down his fear and pain, finding a sense of calm and control in pushing and locking his emotions away. "Yes Sir."_

"_Good." Thomas grunted in something approaching approval and the young Blake clung to that olive branch. If pushing down the pain made his Dad…Father proud of him then he could do that._

"_Now starting tomorrow I think I'll take you into town with me, find you a proper part time job, something to keep you busy after school and knock this arsty fartsy nonsense out of you for good. A real man works hard for a living and its time you started!…But mark me Blake if I ever catch you acting like a cry baby again, or hiding behind your mother's skirts like a little boy then I will give you a proper hiding that will make that one feel like a little tap…You hear me Blake? Don't you ever embarrass the Carrington name again!"_

"Mr Carrington?"

Blinking Blake was jarred back to the present, opening his eyes he caught sight of a young nurse with a gentle smile, yet to Blake's eyes her concerned glance looked pitying and he couldn't bear it.

"I was just checking you were awake you have quite a few visitors waiting to see you…Now don't worry the doctor has told your family the good news, and other than your blood pressure that was a little on the high side, which is understandable considering the circumstances, you're doing just fine. In fact there is no reason we can't discharge you later on today. Providing of course you schedule a check up with your own doctor for the next few days so he can refer you to a proper specialist, and that you have some one stay with you over night…"

"Actually nurse I am feeling rather tired, too tired for visitors. You can tell them go home."

If the young nurse was surprised Blake thought she hid it rather well.

"Oh well I'll pass that message along, although I wouldn't be surprised if most chose to stay regardless. You must be a popular man, lots pf people seem to care about you, the waiting room was practically full and the phones been ringing off the hook with people wanting to check up on your condition."

Choosing not to respond Blake waited until the nurse was out of the room before raising a trembling hand to his forehead. The news was probably across Denver by now and halfway across the country. Soon everyone would know what a pathetic failure he was, an emotional cripple who couldn't hold it together when he most needed to. At least his father wasn't alive to see this, Blake could only imagine what his scathing response would be.

It was for the best that he didn't have any visitors. Right now he was a wreck and wouldn't be able to cope seeing the disappointment in his children's eyes…So perhaps it was cowardly having the nurse lie to them but since he was weak and pathetic anyway he might as well go the whole hog.

It was only delaying the inevitable in any case…tomorrow was soon enough to face loosing the respect of everyone he valued.

Part 5a):

"God Dammit!" Alexis Colby was not normally one for cursing, well at least not in public since she had a refined and elegant reputation to uphold, but this damn hospital coffee machine was testing her last nerve on what had already been a rather trying day.

"I don't think you can really blame god for a faulty coffee machine…a phone call to hospital maintenance might be a little more effective."

Sighing at the familiar baritone Alexis realised she should have expected this…after all most of the family had gone home and she had merely assumed he would to but this wouldn't be the first time she had underestimated his stubbornness.

"I am sure it would but it doesn't have quite the same ring to it, besides since god is already on my bad side, cursing him makes me feel a little better."

"I guess I can understand that, today hasn't gone the way you expected and I know this is probably not a good time to bring this up…"

"What do you want Dex?" Alexis cut him off, turning on her heel to face her former lover and third husband.

"Would you believe me if I said I just wanted to check you were alright…if there was anything I could do…"

Snorting in distinct unamusement Alexis rolled her eyes at his obtuseness and his sheer gall. "Let me see I just buried my daughter and then during the ceremony had her father collapse in my arms. How in any possible scenario could I be alright?"

"I know…" Dex insisted his dark eyes skimming over her face, which looked far to pale and drawn for his liking, even make up couldn't completely hide the dark circles under her eyes from too little sleep. "If there is any way I can help Alexis just say it, I would do anything for you, you know that."

"Sure why not." Alexis snapped surprising Dex until she added in a sarcastic drawl.

"Just go back in time and stop Amanda from getting mixed up with Demeter, or even just stop her car from going over that cliff. Or if that is too much even for you Dex, perhaps you could find a damn doctor who can tell me why the hell I can't go and see Blake, because I find it impossible to believe Blake Carrington would refuse to see his family just because he was tired! Not the man who once travelled through the night just to bring me breakfast nor the man who would work double shifts at the rigs whenever they were short handed…No something is wrong, they've made some sort of mistake they are trying to cover up…"

"I doubt that's true." Dex hedged his heart clenching as the pieces all began to fit together, and the picture began to take shape. "You're really worried about him aren't you?"

"Oh what gave you a clue?" Alexis spat hotly, fumbling in her purse for a damn cigarette. Since she couldn't get a coffee or any answers, she'd have to settle for a cigarette.

"Alexis I get that you are worried but I am sure it is nothing like that." Dex tried to placate her, but Alexis was in full hurricane mode; nothing was going to stop her save her getting what she wanted and right now what she wanted was to see Blake. "You know I don't think you're supposed to smoke in here."

Snorting "Frankly I don't give a damn" Alexis lost her temper and her fight with her handbag which tired off the rough treatment unloaded its contents all over the corridor floor. "Now look what you made me do."

Biting back a smart reply Dex watched for a moment as Alexis scrabbled for her belongings before bending down to try and help. Yet even his patience was tested when Alexis all but snatched her possessions back out of his hands.

"Hey I was only trying to help."

"Did I ask for your help?" Alexis retorted. "Did I ask for you to follow me…it's like having a stalker."

"So you don't need or want my help anymore…hell you don't want me anymore either." Dex countered, loosing his grip on his temper. "Not now you have Blake back…tell me Alexis did you ever really genuinely give us a chance, ever see a real future for us, or was I just a temporary bed warmer; a way to make Blake jealous?"

Pulling out a cigarette Alexis stubbed the end on her lighter case before brining it to her lips and lighting it. Drawing in a lungful of calming smoke she stared up a fuming Dex from beneath her veiled hat before replying acerbically. "Not everything is about you darling."

"No but it might be nice if occasionally something was!" Dex snapped. "I gave you everything I had, my heart, everything! I was the one who picked you up when Carrington tossed you aside like garbage, I put you back together Alexis…"

"Oh because my recovery had nothing whatsoever to do with me?" Alexis retorted sarcastically. "I put myself back together Dex, you helped as did my children, but in the end I had to move on for me, you don't get to take all the credit!…God why are we even fighting about this? It's stupid, as is your jealousy I might add."

"Oh I think judging by your little display in the churchyard I have right to wonder what really went on between you and Carrington in Monaco." Dex argued hotly, oblivious to the way Alexis's face blanched. "How convenient it must have been when Fallon gave you a perfectly reasonable reason to give me the boot, something that absolved you of all guilt."

"For your information Blake and I spent the majority of time sitting by the side of our daughter who lay dying, it was hardly a romantic getaway Dex, and how dare you suggest otherwise…but it doesn't matter now, this isn't about me and Blake, it's about you and me…it's over Dex, we're over and if we're being honest it was over long before you hit my daughter, not that I could ever forgive you for that but it was merely the final nail in the coffin."

"Because of Blake…"

"Because of ME!" Alexis countered. "Because although I did…do love you, I can't trust you Dex, I will always be waiting for you to get drunk and end up in bed with the next floozy who smiles at you."

"Yet you trust him?" Dex asked incredulously. "The man broke your heart, threw you out of your own home…tried to rape you, or have you conveniently forgotten all of that?"

"No…no I haven't." Alexis muttered softly as if struck dumb. "But in the end it doesn't matter. I will always love him more. I can't explain it; not really, it doesn't make sense even to me. How can I love someone who treated me so badly? Once I even thought I could stop, that I could cut that love out my heart but then all I would have ended up with is no heart at all. I could be content…maybe even happy with you and Jack."

"But not enough to stay?"

"No not enough." Alexis replied sadly the fight having seeped out of her. "I can't help loving him Dex, but I always have and I imagine I always will. Even when I hated him I loved him still and that depth of feeling just doesn't go away because we wish it would. Today just made me face what I had been avoiding for months, when I really thought that I might lose him…"

Alexis closed her eyes, that stab of fear was still very much in her thoughts and it made her sick to her stomach. "I could have lost him today and I can't afford to waste any more time."

"With me?"

Sighing Alexis forced herself to nod. "I could lose him at any time and that terrifies me, but nothing frightened me more than the thought of Blake dying without knowing that I love him and forgive him."

"And I can go to hell?" Dex's voice was hurt and angry and dangerous.

Opening her eyes Alexis forced herself to meet Dex's gaze, to face the pain that she alone was responsible for. She had been hurting and alone and selfish and in that confusion she had latched onto the first person that had been a balm to her wounded heart and pride. Admitting that she had used Dex didn't make her suddenly a better person but at least it meant she wasn't a hypocrite.

"I shouldn't have dragged you into this mess in the first place Dex. Yet if it makes it any easier I did love being a family with you and Jack, and there was a time when I really thought we could make it. I doubt I would have recovered so quickly if it hadn't been for the two of you. I know that doesn't make what I did alright but I need you to understand I didn't deliberately go into our relationship intending for this to happen."

"But you're not going to change your mind, we don't deserve this Alexis, all I did was love you and what about Jack?" Dex demanded. "You're his mother, are you really going to throw all that away for Blake Carrington?"

"It's not a question of what chose, it's a question of what I can live with and I can't live without Blake…I love him and I want him."

Choked up Dex barely resisted the urge to scream, either that or reach out and shake some sense into Alexis. "Lady you really are one of a kind…"

"I don't blame you for hating me."

"Hate you?" Dex scoffed bitterly, his pain reflected clearly in his dark eyes. "I only wish I could, god knows it would be easier but you're my Carrington Alexis. No matter what happens, no matter how much you hurt me, I can't stop loving you or coming back for more…I just don't like you very much right now."

Holding her tongue Alexis at least had the sense to realise there was nothing she could say now that would do any good.

Running his hands through his hair, Dex could only huff in irony imagining Marin's reaction; he could picture her expression as she told him 'I told you so'.

"If I were the bigger man I suppose right about now I should be wishing you well…God knows all I've ever wanted was for you to be happy but I guess I'm too selfish. Right now the best I can do is not cursing the two of you to hell."

"Dex…"

Ignoring the soft pleading way Alexis said his name Dex shook his head stepping away from her like she was toxic.

"Good luck Alexis I think you will need it." Dex hissed, gathering what remained of the tattered thread of his dignity and striding off before his tears could fall. He was done. Dex Dexter was out of here, for good this time and not once as he strode away from the love of his life did he give into the temptation to look back.

Part 5b):

There were days Krystle Carrington wondered what she had been thinking marrying into the Carrington clan. Of course at the time love had been the pressing reason but part of her couldn't help but wonder if her naive younger self had realised the extent to which Blake's children and his first wife would end up dominating her life and happiness, would she still have married him?

Of course now they were officially divorced Krystle guess that was really a mute point. Yet despite the ending of their marriage it was ironic that Alexis and Alexis's children seemed to influence her life as much as they ever did.

Why else would she have returned to the mansion to make sure the guests who had filtered back there after the funeral were being taken care of? They weren't officially her guests, Fallon had done all of the organising, and yet Kystle still felt somehow constrained by the stringent expectations being Mrs Blake Carrington.

Fortunately though she hadn't been alone in her endeavour, after hearing from the doctors that Blake was well although not up to visitors Jeff, Steven and surprisingly enough Jackson had offered to accompany her home. Yet whilst Steven and Jeff helped answer the questions of many curious guests Jackson had vanished into thin air…

Still it was with some measure of relief that Krystle headed up to her room to shower and change. It had already been a long day and with Fallon picking the children up from school Krystle knew she has precious little time to relax before the whole hoard arrived home demanding food and attention and guilty Krystle couldn't help but wonder just when Fallon was planning on taking her own two back to the ranch with her. Not that Krystle didn't love LB and Lauren but sometimes they were so boisterous that they tended to overshadow the other children, especially Danny who seemed to be becoming more and more subdued.

Perhaps after his weekend away with Steven Danny might perk up a little and if Steven hadn't made arrangements to take the boy back with him toe New York then Krystle intended to persuade him to let Danny remain at the mansion with her. Krystle would never dare question out loud Alexis's love for her grandchildren but she doubted very much with both Colby Co and Denver Carrington not to mention her racing interests and baby Jack that Alexis really had the time or the inclination to give Danny the support he needed.

And speaking of support…Krystle sighed glancing at her watch as her precious free time seemed to slip away from her, she hadn't checked on Jessica at all today. Their temporary houseguest hadn't appeared at breakfast and Krystle could hardly blame her not wanting to show her face a funeral for someone she hadn't even met. Still that didn't change the fact that someone ought to check on the girl just to make sure she was alright.

Changing direction Krystle quickly strode to the over end of the main corridor, to the last door on the right where Jess was staying, yet as her hand hovered about to knock she couldn't help but overhear raised voices. As her mother had taught her better than to eavesdrop Krystle went to step away but then she heard something that made her stop despite herself.

"Why are you so mad about me asking? What's so terrible that I want him to be alright…"

"Because this is exactly what I was afraid of. You can't go getting attached to this family Jess. Now I see its too late well you'll just have to move out…" Jackson's voice countered angrily surprising Krystle.

"No!"

"Jess I mean it it's too dangerous for you stay here. What if people found out, all that we've worked for would be for nothing…"

"Would it really be so terrible if they found out?" Jess's voice was softer and Krystle had to step closer to hear the rest.

"I mean he wasn't like what you described, he's actually been really kind to me not what I expected at all..." 

"Only because they don't know who you are, do you think if they did they'd welcome you into the fold with open arms? Be sensible here Jess, his father didn't even want him, why would he want you?…Don't cry I'm sorry I yelled this is my fault I got so caught up in all these other problems when I should have been paying attention to you."

"I just really like it here Jackson…they're nice even Adam and it's like having a family."

"I'm your family, remember kid we don't need them."

"Except I do…maybe it's just the baby or maybe its feeling alone all the time, and know I'm only Blake Carrington's bastard's bastard and I'm carrying another illegitimate brat but this child is still a Carrington by blood no matter what side of the blanket it is born on."

Stunned and shaken Krystle all but staggered back from the door, unable to believe what she had just overheard. It couldn't be true, could it? If it was it meant Blake had once again had another child that he had never told her about and it that were true how many other dirty secrets was Blake Carrington hiding?

Part 6a):

Sitting on the edge of his bed Blake Carrington watched the sky darkening through the window of his hospital room. His nurse had popped in to check on him and oblivious to Blake's dark mood had happily informed him that when the doctor came through on his rounds it was likely he would discharge him home, so if he wanted to get dressed in his own clothes…

Yet as Blake slowly buttoned up his shirt he had little reason to hurry. His mind was far too preoccupied with just what he was going to say to his family when he saw them, what could he possibly say to apologise for letting them all down like that? This time alone was supposed to have been a breathing space to help him regain control and allow him time to think, but his emotions seemed too unstable. Blake could only worry how much worse he would make the situation if he returned home still in so much turmoil.

Hearing the door behind him open and shut Blake sighed and called out. "I am sorry to keep you waiting I am almost ready…"

Still Blake started in surprise when an all too familiar voice, that seemed less than happy with him retorted. "Good because I am through waiting Blake!"

His throat suddenly dry Blake slid off of the bed and turned to face her. Now hatless with her hair pulled back and with much of her makeup removed, probably from crying tears over him, Alexis looked pale and tired but her righteous anger made her eyes flash and Blake was certain she had never looked quite so real or so beautiful.

"Alexis…I…."

"Cat got your tongue Blake…No "oh have you been waiting Alexis?" Or "oh how terrible I am sorry for driving you out of your mind with worry?" Alexis drawled sarcastically watching as Blake seemed to visibly shrink at her tongue-lashing. "Or how about just explaining why you didn't tell me, me of all people, about these attacks? During all that time we spent alone in Monaco you didn't think once to mention it? What if something had happened to you there and I hadn't known what to do? Do you think I would ever have been able to forgive myself?"

Sighing Blake forced himself to meet her gaze, Alexis was right, every accusation was true and justified and to his own mind Blake knew he had no decent reason only excuses. Yet even if they weren't good enough Blake realised he owed her an explanation…if he could only find the words and the courage.

Still some part of him knew this was his last chance, and that alone forced him to find the remains of his courage and relying on the faith he had in Alexis Blake did something he never did; what he swore he would never do…talk about how he was feeling.

"I couldn't bear the idea of you thinking of me as weak." Blake sighed closing his eyes as he reached up and ran his hand nervously through his hair.

"You know me Alexis…probably better than anyone…you know how difficult I find talking about how I feel. I have always struggled with overt emotional displays and this time it was me. I was the one having a breakdown because I couldn't control my emotions. I had pushed them down so much that it was like an eruption I couldn't stop."

"And you thought I wouldn't understand?" Alexis questioned unable to contain the hurt in her voice.

"No its not that…God this is so difficult." Blake admitted moving to sit on the bed and holding out his hand, hoping that Alexis accepted. It wasn't logical but somehow Blake felt this might be easier to discuss if Alexis wasn't so physically distant…if he could just feel the warmth of her skin under his fingertips maybe he could get through this.

When Alexis hesitated Blake knew he wasn't above begging, holding her gaze he pleaded softly. "Please."

On hearing Blake request so softly and humbly spoken his dark eyes unusually vulnerable and frightened, as if a refusal from her would actually break him; Alexis's stomach twisted and her hand shook as she reached out to accept his hand, allowing him to pull her closer.

When Alexis was seated next to him Blake knew he couldn't put it off any longer and he held her hand in between his own yet he couldn't find the strength to meet her gaze. "I was afraid…"

"Of what, me?"

"A little. Afraid that you would realise that underneath everything I was weak and pathetic. I had already lost you and your love to Dexter. I couldn't bear to loose what little respect I still had in your eyes, especially after you told me that I had destroyed your trust in me. I know it was selfish but I couldn't bear to lose anything else. I honestly thought it was a one off and that I could get through it with something of my dignity intact…Which I suppose just proves I am a fool as well as a coward." Blake scoffed, in that moment the full picture of his misplaced arrogance becoming clear even to him.

"Now I've not only lost your respect but I've humiliated myself in front of half of Denver and ruined our daughter's funeral…And I am so sorry ruined that for you, god knows I've been little help to you in organising it."

Biting her lip Alexis stopped herself from trying to reassure him, in fact she stopped herself from speaking at all, afraid that if she did it would somehow break the spell and the flow of Blake's confession. Alexis had waited nearly thirty five years for Blake Carrington to finally let down those walls around himself and let her see the core of him. Thirty five years of tears and frustration, yet as Blake finally stepped back from his defences and let her in Alexis had a feeling it had been worth the wait.

"I was afraid of loosing myself. At times it was like I could feel myself and my life unravelling, every strand unwinding between my fingers and no matter how strongly I gripped on to them it wasn't enough. I have always prided myself on being in control and now I can't even hold it together long enough to give my own daughter the send off she deserved." Blake added unable to stop the tears that brimmed in his eyes.

This time Blake didn't try to fight them, allowing them to fall from his eyes onto his tanned and weather-beaten face, surprised when instead of the feeling the shame he expected all he could feel was a sense of relief…of finally letting go…of letting it out.

Seeing the tears on Blake's cheeks brought a lump to Alexis's throat, and although she would have sworn she must have already cried herself out, yet more tears sprang to her own eyes.

"All I seem to do is hurt and fail the people I love…I do love you…god you can never know how much." Blake whispered softly lifting his gaze to meet Alexis's, encouraged when she managed a small smile despite her tears.

"I was wrong Alexis, I should never have thrown you out. The first time I was just so angry I didn't even think of the consequences, I was running on pure rage but I somehow convinced myself I wasn't. I didn't do what was best for Fallon or Steven, I reacted that way because I wanted to hurt you back and you and our children spent the next sixteen years paying for my arrogance and wounded pride and I am so sorry. I never got around to asking you for forgiveness because if I did that then I would have had to admit I was wrong, well I am asking now, if one day you could please try to forgive me?"

Reaching up to cover her mouth as she choked back a sob Alexis couldn't then resist squeezing Blake's hand in reassurance. "I can't forget the pain Blake, loosing those years with my children will always hurt but I forgave you for that months ago…If I hadn't do you think I would ever have agreed to marry you?"

Hanging his head Blake felt slightly lighter. As one of his greatest sins it still hung about his neck but it didn't cut into him the way it used to, still it was merely one of many. His others were more recent and their wounds were still fresh and Blake couldn't even being to imagine that Alexis would be able to forgive them so easily…yet that didn't mean he could hide from them…it just meant it was time for the truth, the whole truth.

Part 6b):

"You were right."

Blake's softly spoken words surprised Alexis. Especially as after his last confession and almost awkward silence had fallen between them as Blake struggled to contain himself. Finally raising a hand to swipe at the tears that lingered on his cheeks as Alexis herself fumbled in her purse before handing over her handkerchief.

"Thank you." Blake muttered blowing his nose and tucking the monogrammed handkerchief back into his own pocket after Alexis waved it aside.

Unable to contain her curiosity a moment longer Alexis couldn't stop herself from asking. "What specifically am I right about this time?"

Smiling at Alexis's turn of phrase Blake paused before answering, as if thinking carefully about how to phrase his own answer. "Do you remember that day Colby Acres, in the stables?"

"The day I yelled at you and then threw you out?" Alexis retorted her own smirk tugging at her lips.

Chuckling Blake could only nod before becoming serious once more. "Back then you knew, somehow you knew there was more to my breaking our engagement than what I told you."

Snorting Alexis couldn't contain a note of bitterness in her retort. "Well that was hardly a feat of genius Blake. Even when you stood there and yelled in my face that you didn't love me, that you loved Krystle and I was simply convenient, your eyes were saying the exact opposite…You've never been able to successfully lie to me."

Hanging his head Blake had to admit Alexis had a point, she always seemed to be able to see through his bullshit and Blake couldn't help but wonder if she was just that perceptive when it came to him or if he was just that bad a liar?

"It wasn't all a lie…" Blake stumbled over his words. "I really did think I owed it to Krystina to at least try to make the best of things but if hadn't been for…Well I would have tried to find another way, a way that didn't involve hurting you."

"You're prevaricating Blake."

"I know…I…it is difficult this isn't my secret to tell but since it effected you I think you deserve to know the truth."

When Blake didn't immediately continue Alexis reached out and took his hand, her fingers squeezing his gently. "If it would I help you know I would keep the confidence…"

"No it's not that I know you wouldn't tell anyone else." Blake answered smiling slightly. "But I guess it would reassure me if you agreed not to use this against her…I know you Alexis, you have an unerring ability to cut people to the quick if they get in your way and I would feel terrible if this was used against her."

Stung slightly by Blake's comment Alexis knew now he had to be talking about Krystle…The Sterling Krystle…Even if he wasn't in love with her anymore Blake was clearly still protective over his ex-stenographer and Alexis wasn't immune to the feeling of jealousy that his concern stirred up. That and the fact that despite his protestations of love for Alexis herself it was Krystle who still lived at the mansion, she hadn't been thrown out when their relationship had come to an end…

Although the fact that Krystina still lived at the mansion might also have been a mitigating factor…

"Alexis?" Blake prompted when Alexis remained worryingly silent.

"I presume we are talking about Krystle then?"

"Yes." Blake answered simply watching, as Alexis seemed to sharpen and bristle. "This is her secret Alexis…please promise…for me?"

Sighing Alexis knew she couldn't fight that. Not when Blake looked at her so pleadingly, his voice to low and rough. "I promise."

Smiling broader this time Blake squeezed her hand back, rubbing his thumb along hers. "Thank you…I suppose it would be best to start at the beginning."

Still that was easier said than done.

"When I first flew out to Switzerland I met with Krystle's doctors who told me their tests had picked up a secondary tumour…"

"Oh my god." Alexis gasped raising her eyes to meet Blake's, seeing the truth in his dark depths, and the missing pieces of the puzzle suddenly fell into place. "But they were able to do something…I've seen her she looks fine, she doesn't look sick…Are you sure they weren't mistaken, did you get a second opinion?"

Shaking his head Blake continued cutting off Alexis's questions. "Dr Muir is a leading specialist he knows what he is talking about. The tumour isn't operable, the position is too deep. He offered Krystle the choice of a course of radiotherapy to try and shrink it or a regime of drugs to try and keep it stable and her free from the symptoms as long as possible. Krystle decided to take the drugs, she didn't want waste whatever time she had left with Krystina being too sick to take care of her, and she didn't want the rest of the family to know she was sick until it was impossible to hide it anymore."

"So that was why?" Alexis choked unable to believe what she was hearing. Having seen Krystle only hours earlier looking fit and well it seemed impossible to believe it, but Blake wouldn't lie about something like this. "You knew she was dying…" 

"I thought I was doing the right thing, the honourable thing." Blake answered shaking his head at his own stupidity. "All Krystle could talk about was coming home and spending the time with all the people she loved and I couldn't bring myself to tell the truth about us. So I hurt you out some misguided idiotic notion that I was protecting her. That I could reset the clock for the time she had left and make sure she had what she wanted for as long as she had left."

Blake broke off unable to keep the self-loathing from his voice. "I was such a fool…An arrogant fool. I actually believed that if I refused to bend I could force everything back to the way it was before Krystle's coma. I thought if I suppressed my feelings for you, and ordered my children about, then Krystle wouldn't catch on. She knew from the very beginning something was wrong and I…I knew I had made a terrible mistake but my pride kept me from admitting it until things had gone so monumentally wrong."

"Which was when?" It killed Alexis to ask. Throughout Blake's explanation it didn't surprise her how easily she followed his twisted logic, yet the ease with which she did disturbed her somewhat. Perhaps it was possible to know someone too well, that it became unhealthy?

Still Alexis did know Blake, something specific must have happened to force him to confront the fact that he was wrong. He was far too stubborn and when Blake got an idea in his mind it was nigh on impossible to get him to change it.

"You." Blake answered simply. "Or more to the point you and I…for the first time I couldn't suppress how I felt about you…I tried but no matter what happened I couldn't stop thinking about you, wondering what you were doing, worrying if you were alright. Then when you came back to Denver and I saw you again first with Jackson and then with Dexter…well I was so obviously jealous that Krystle saw it and I couldn't deny it. The thought of you with anyone else…it drove me crazy, it still does…"

"I see." Alexis whispered softly, and she did see. She had experienced first hand the unpleasant face of Blake's jealousy and the memories it stirred up were far from pleasant and considering recent events were nearer the surface than usual.

Watching Alexis closely Blake couldn't fail to notice the way she seemed to withdraw him both physically, dropping his hand to clasp her own together, and emotionally as well.

"Alexis?" Blake whispered her name gently before reaching out hesitantly to brush her arm with his fingertips, horrified when she flinched slightly at his touch.

"Sorry I was just…" Alexis spluttered, embarrassed by her own lack of control.

This was just Blake, it had taken time, a lot of time, but gradually they had been able to regain that trust that had been lost between them. If she hadn't dealt with what had almost happened between in her office then she wouldn't have been able to trust him enough to share her bed with him in Monaco…she certainly wouldn't have been able to drawn comfort and reassurance from his touch and embrace, that she had needed and craved his touch in the last few days proved that in her own mind.

"No I am the one who is sorry, you have nothing to be sorry about." Blake replied firmly. "I understand if after what…after what I did that you would find it difficult to be near me. I only have myself to blame…"

"It's not that…or that's part of it…I can't…" Alexis stuttered cursing herself as thoughts and feelings she had refused to even allow breathing room during the crisis with Amanda suddenly bubbled up and overwhelmed her. The violence of her sobs surprised even her, so it wasn't any wonder that Blake sat there frozen for a moment before reaching for her.

Falling gratefully in his arms Alexis cried out her fear, the terror of being manipulated and out of control, of being played and used.

Frightened by the intensity of Alexis's outburst Blake didn't know what to do…in the end he did all he could, holding her tightly and rubbing her back as she cried herself out, allowing her to take him along for the ride. Finally her sobs seemed to lessen a little, her breathing evening out as she rubbed her face against his shoulder.

Hesitantly Blake whispered. "Please talk to me…if something is wrong…if it's something I did…"

Sniffing Alexis reached Blake's pocket and retrieved her handkerchief, not caring that he had already been used in this instance. "It's not you…I…it's difficult…I've been trying to forget it even happened…"

Tensing it was like a thousand warning bells began to ring at once and loudly in his ears and Blake's throat went dry as a terrible realisation struck his brain like lightning. Gathering his courage Blake reached up and brushed the tears off of Alexis's cheek before cupping her chin and lifting her reluctant gaze to meet his own.

"You don't have tell me anything but I have to ask or the worry will drive me mad…Alexis has somebody…have you been raped?"

She didn't need to open her mouth to answer, Blake saw his answer first in her eyes and that knowledge and his heart sank like a stone to the bottom of his stomach. There was only one more question he needed to ask but Blake worried it would be too much and so he bit his tongue, trusting Alexis would tell him if she wanted him to know, but that didn't stop it burning away in his brain. Who?

Part 6c):

Blake's fingers in her hair was surprisingly soothing. Somehow he had managed to get it out of the tight bun at the nape of her neck, and unstyled curls now fell in a curtain around her face. It undoubtedly looked a mess, something probably not helped by Blake playing with it but right now Alexis couldn't bring herself to care.

If nothing else it helped to hide the mess of the remains of her makeup.

His shirt was damp under her cheek, and Alexis flushed with embarrassment knowing it was due to her tears…still considering what Blake had gone through himself only a few hours earlier he was the last person to make her feel self conscious about loosing control. It would be all too easy to just sink into his embrace and never move again but the growing crick in her neck refused to allow her to drop off completely.

Shifting Alexis reached up to rub her sore neck, smiling against Blake's shoulder as fingers more dexterous reached up to take over. "You're too good at that, be careful or I just might not let you stop."

"Blake Carrington masseuse." Blake quipped keeping the tone light, despite the turbulent nature of his thoughts. Alexis hadn't offered any more information about her attack and things between them were so delicate Blake was too afraid to press the matter, so if Alexis wanted to change the subject who was he to object? When she was ready to talk to him Blake swore on his life he would be there…

"Not quite the career change I had in mind."

"Fine you can just be my personal masseuse, besides I'm not sure I would like the idea of you off massaging all manner of other naked women…"

"They would be naked? Maybe I was too hasty…" Blake teased, chuckling when Alexis slapped his chest playfully. "It's a good job I am happy to be a one client masseuse..."

"Yes it is." Alexis answered softly her fingers drawing light circles across Blake's shirt her tone deceptively light as she asked. "Blake did you mean what you said earlier…about still being in love with me?"

"Yes." Blake answered softly his fingers moving back to Alexis's hair to rake her chin length curls back from her face so he could try and gauge her expression. "I love you and I'm in love with you."

Biting down on her lip Alexis tried and failed to contain her smile.

"And that knowledge pleases you?" Blake prompted Alexis when she remained silent and yet continued to fight smiling like a cat with a canary.

"Maybe a little." Alexis replied teasingly in fingers tip toeing from one shirt button to another.

Swallowing down his nerves Blake reached up and caught her fingers, interlacing them with his own before asking. "And how do you feel?"

"Tired…Dishevelled…Drained…"

"Alexis…"

Laughing at the peeved tone in Blake's voice as she strung this out Alexis couldn't contain her smile this time. "Oh you mean about you?"

"Yes I meant about me!" Blake retorted rolling his eyes at her deliberate delaying tactics before the thought occurred to him that perhaps Alexis was just trying to be kind because she didn't feel the same way and was hoping he would drop the line of enquiry.

"Look it's alright if you don't feel the same…just knowing you have forgiven me is enough and…I know you are with Dexter and…"

"Dex and I broke up." Alexis cut him off. "Or more accurately I broke up with him."

For a moment the thought occurred to Blake that Dexter…before he immediately pushed that away as absurd. Blake had more than a few issues with Sam Dexter's son most of which if he was truthful revolved around him being competition for Alexis's heart, but Blake couldn't believe Dex capable of rape. Dexter for all his faults adored Alexis, no matter how badly she had treated him, and despite his problems with fidelity Dexter had a chivalrous streak a mile wide. No Dexter would sooner harm himself than hurt a woman like that.

"Why?"

Resting her head against Blake's shoulder Alexis sighed at the question. Was Blake really that oblivious? Or was his self-esteem currently so low that he couldn't even begin to contemplate how his earlier attack might have forced her to face her feelings? Feelings she was just as guilty as Blake for trying to suppress.

"Well you can't stay with someone when you're in love with somebody else, now can you?"

"You.." Blake spluttered his heart jumping into his throat, as a painfully dreadful hope seemed to squeeze it almost in half. "Who?"

Laughing at his worried expression Alexis reached up and brushed his cheek.

"I love you Blake." Alexis whispered softly cutting off Blake's nervous splutter, watching as her words registered and a look of pure joy stole over his face. "I always have and I probably always will."

Clasping her hand to his heart with one hand his other hand still tangled in her hair Blake angled Alexis's head back, his dark eyes flickering from her eyes down to her lips that were parted invitingly. It would be so easy to close the remaining distance between them and Blake wanted nothing more than to kiss Alexis right now but he hesitated. After everything they had been through and what Alexis had half confessed Blake couldn't help but be afraid that if he moved too fast, if he rushed her before she was ready then he would ruin everything.

It didn't take a genius to interpret Blake's expression. Alexis had seen it often enough on the faces of her children on Christmas morning when they had to get dressed and eat breakfast before being allowed to open their presents. The expression of anticipation and longing coupled with barely concealed frustration at having their hearts desires just out of reach.

Leaning up Alexis closed the distance between them, brushing her lips against Blake's in the faintest ghost of a kiss, before Blake finally overcame his hesitancy and tugged her mouth down to meet his properly and he could feel Alexis's smile against his lips.

The sound of someone clearing their throat before asking in an amused tone. "Should I come back later?"

Pulling apart Blake blushed red to his silver roots, being caught kissing was bad enough, being caught kissing by a doctor who looked young enough to practically be his own grandson was another. "No Doctor we were just…"

"Oh I think I can see what you were just…" The Doctor trailed off cheekily. "However I am afraid I must ask your young lady to step outside Mr Carrington, one quick final check up and if everything is then you two lovebirds can be on your way."

Grudgingly Blake nodded, watching reluctantly as Alexis gathered her hat and purse, pausing to kiss his cheek before leaving with a whispered promise. "I'll be waiting right outside…"

"I'll hold you to that." Blake deadpanned. "If you hear screaming be sure to come to my rescue."

"Oh I'll bear it in mind." Alexis quipped turning back and favouring him with a loving gaze Blake had never would ever be directed at him again. It made even being examined by the doctor bearable.

True to his world the Doctor was quick but efficient and Blake was already buttoning up his shirt when the nurse arrived with his paperwork in hand and surprisingly enough a small arrangement of flowers.

"Alright Mr Carrington now we have an agreement I am signing these and releasing you on the condition you have a check up with your doctor in the next few days and you agree to see a specialist about addressing your condition, these panic attacks won't go away until you do."

Nodding Blake would have agreed to practically anything if it would have gotten him out of here.

"Oh Mr Carrington these were left at the front desk for you…Now I'll just go get your wheelchair."

Thanking her distractedly Blake didn't even blink an eye at the mention of the dreaded compulsory wheelchair trip out of the hospital. Instead his attention was taken by the unusual lily and yellow carnation combination. Reaching for the envelope that bore his name Blake didn't so much as glance up when the door opened and in a faint whiff of perfume Alexis returned to his side.

"Secret Admirers already?" Alexis quipped lightly, taking a seat beside Blake on the bed and glancing over his shoulder at the flowers. "Should I be worried?"

"Oh I doubt that." Blake replied absently surprised when on opening the envelope he found not a florists card but and old black and white photograph, a posed affair of a solemn looking boy dressed neatly in some sort of school uniform.

"What on earth…" Alexis began her eyes widening in horror and recognition, a recognition Blake thankfully didn't share as she stared down into familiar cold dark eyes that stared malevolently out of such a young face.

"Search me." Blake muttered frowning in confusion before flipping the photograph over. Now it was his turn to gasp, there in nearly faded handwritten ink were the words.

Thomas Carrington aged 11 on admission to St George's Grammar School for boys

Flipping the picture back over Blake couldn't help but stare, it was the first time he had so much as seen a picture of his first born, and Blake couldn't help but be shocked by the similarities. The eyes, the shape of Tom's jaw…No there was no longer any doubt in Blake's mind about this boy's parentage, only questions about why someone would be sending this to him now…What did it all mean?

Was someone trying to tell him something? But why wait till now so many years after his son's death?

Confused and frustrated Blake returned to the envelope shaking it lest it held any such answers, then just like a snowflake falling a sliver of paper fluttered down to fall into his lap. Innocently facing upward it was adorned with few scant words but those words made the breath catch in his throat.

_Thomas Carrington Jnr Born 13th June 1945 Died ?_

Was someone really trying to tell him that the son he thought dead is actually still very much alive?


End file.
